The Challenge
by Fes
Summary: Naley. 20 people, 10 weeks. When Haley James agreed to an MTV reality show with her sister, she couldn’t have been more wrong what to expect. It's easy to get overwhelmed with the grueling challenges, crazy contestants and the constant cameras around.
1. Prologue

Guess who's back, back again... :) Hell to the yeah, it's your one and only Fes, back with a new story and boy, did it take long for me to get this one out. :) It's been well over a year since I finished "The Journey" and started writing this one. In between that and now, a lot has changed. Went abroad to study for a year and anyone who's been studying abroad knows it's basically one, big, long, happy vacation. No responsibilities and nothing but time to party. Best part was that you're surrounded by other exchange students which are going through exactly the same thing. So, yeah finally going back home to Finland was like going to rehab except that I actually welcomed the change. :) Though I did NOT welcome the more expensive food prizes. No more 2-euro-wine bottles for Fes. Tear... :)

I was able to write the first 4 chapters last summer but the reason I never uploaded any was because I was going abroad and couldn't be sure whether I could continue with the story. Well, I went back home. And left 7 weeks later to Ireland to do my internship. So, I'm abroad again. This time WITH responsibilities and I can only party on Fridays and Saturdays. :P So, can't really promise how often I can update the story but I'm now well on the way, and have learned to find time for writing so we should we be good update-wise.

Anyways, I started writing The Challenge last summer and if you have a good memory, I even asked the public's opinion on writing a story based on a MTV reality show. Many of you encouraged me, though I'm sure many had their doubts (me included). Well, I've never been known to back out so here we go again. :)

And yes, I'm bringing back the "quote of the day" part which I did with "The Journey". And no fear, I know the first part, the Prologue, is extremely short but the "real" chapters will be LONG! I'm talking about 15-30 -page chapters. :)

As always, hope you enjoy it and please, review. :)

It's good to be back.

* * *

**The Challenge**

Full summary:

AU, Naley. 20 people, 10 weeks, 200 000 dollars. "Haley, come on. It's gonna be like a fun, relaxing, long vacation. I _promise_." As soon as Haley James heard the word "promise" from her sister's mouth, she should've known better than to agree to apply to an MTV reality show with her. But she did. _And they got in._

Clueless on what she had gotten herself into, Haley must battle the social, mental and physical trials while dealing with the demons from her past. Facing the grueling, brutal challenges; the crazy, drama filled contestants; and not to even mention the constant camera crew around, Haley must come to terms with what she wants and needs.

Based on the MTV show "Real World/Road Rules Challenge".

Disclaimer: I don't own MTV, Real World/Road Rules, TJ Lavin, Mexico, One Tree Hill or it's characters, etc... I own nothing (except this brand new, cute lap top that I use for my writing). :)

**Quote of the day: 24.  
**

Jack Bauer: "The only reason that you're conscious right now is because I don't want to carry you."

* * *

_Dedicated to all the cool people in my life, you know who you are. ;)_

**Prologue.**

To say that Charlotte Baker was tired of her job was the understatement of the decade. Burned out mentally and physically as well as borderline suicidal, was a far more precise description.

When MTV had offered the job as an assistant to the co-chief of the casting department 10 years ago, she had been a sophomore in college and had thought the job would be fun and stress-free in a relaxed atmosphere with flexible hours and the chance to make a difference and meet interesting, new people.

Now 10 years later as the head of the casting department while sipping her 4th coffee that day, or "lunch" as she called it, Charlotte scoffed at the memory of her young, innocent, naive self.

With her thick, brown, curly hair on a loose bun she went over the piles and piles of videos on her desk and floor, while reading the newspaper, talking on the phone with a contestant while scribbling down notes for her assistant with her right hand as her left one used the remote control to fast forward all the casting videos that didn't have a chance.

Charlotte had been there when they had casted the very first "Real World/Road Rules: The Challenge" after which she had been responsible for casting every single season of Real World and Road Rules. Now she was in the middle of casting the 20th season of "Real World/Road Rules Challenge" which would be called "Season of Newbies".

Charlotte's young, new assistant Molly Daniels watched her boss work in awe. She had been working for Charlotte for two months now and she still couldn't believe the multitasking skills her boss held. She quickly took the note her boss wrote her and read it. "CC 15.00". Cancel 3 o'clock.

Nodding her head, Molly hurried off outside the office where her desk was situated. Checking her boss' calendar, she checked who her 3 o'clock was, called them and cancelled the meeting.

Coming back few minutes later, Molly noticed that Charlotte was now off the phone, putting another video inside the VCR. The one she took out, she threw into a huge garbage can that was already filled with similar tapes. It was the same garbage can she had emptied just 30 minutes ago.

"No luck?" Molly asked.

Charlotte turned to look at her with a small smile.

"Nope, it was a Casey and a Mary." Charlotte said nonchalantly.

"Again? That's like the 50th tape today." Molly said sighing.

"I know... 'Alex' and 'Johnny' have also been pretty popular mix..."

Molly knew exactly what Charlotte meant by Casey, Mary, Alex and Johnny. Over the past 10 years while Charlotte had casted all the shows, she had noticed that all the applicants could be categorized into eight different groups, four for girls and four for guys.

There was "Casey: the sorority/party girl", "Mary: the sweet and innocent who cries a lot", "Donna: the bad ass and the reason why censors get paid", "Cory: the different, artsy type", "Alex: the ultimate manwhore, player and a stud", "Johnny: the funny guy", "Tyrese: the huge football player looking black guy" and finally "David: the sarcastic, mean, gay guy who all the girls love".

"Why, oh why, did this season have to be so different?" Charlotte stressed out while rubbing her temples.

"You'll survive it." Molly said.

"I understand that the execs wanted fresh, new people for this show instead circling the same 20 to 30 people we usually do. And I also understand that casting those fresh, new faces as two-person-groups instead individually is much more interesting because they already have ties when they go into the show. But what I _don't_ understand is how the _fuck_ do they expect us to find _two_ interesting people when finding just one is task enough!" Charlotte yelled. "It's almost impossible!"

"Almost." Molly said.

"I can do it, of course I can." Charlotte said which made Molly smile. "Of course I'll find them, I always do."

"Yes, you do." Molly said.

"Sorry, I yelled and cursed." Charlotte said looking at her assistant carefully.

Molly gave her a bright smile not minding that her boss yelled and cursed, as long as it wasn't directed at her. Charlotte smiled at her assistant and took a mental note to buy her assistant something nice for her upcoming birthday.

Many bosses, especially in corporations as big as MTV weren't that nice to their assistants and interns because, well honestly, they didn't have to. The work was hectic, chaotic and stressed. There was always the pressure of missing the next big thing and it didn't take a big mistake for the MTV execs to fire the person responsible. So, for employees in charge of anything, it was always easy to yell at the people below them and blame them for their mistakes.

That wasn't the case with Charlotte. On her second day working for MTV when her boss had thrown her coffee on Charlotte's white shirt because she had put the wrong kind of sugar in it, Charlotte had made a vow to always treat her employees with respect, and so far she had succeeded in it. She was the most liked management person in the company.

"Besides, you only have one girl group missing." Molly said while Charlotte threw yet another tape into garbage after only seeing the first 8 seconds of it.

Charlotte had done her job long enough to know exactly which type of personalities were the wrong kind and unfortunately for her, about 95 percent of the applicants seemed to fall in that category.

"I know... I've been looking for that one last team over a week now..." she mumbled.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Molly asked as Charlotte put another tape inside the VCR.

"We need something different, something new, something real, something fresh..." she mumbled while fast forwarding the tape and then throwing it in the trash. They both sat down on the floor when Charlotte put a new tape in the VCR.

They both watched in silence a video of two girls, sisters, explaining why they should be cast. They watched as the younger and more innocent looking girl talked to the camera.

_Hi, I'm Haley, I'm 20 and a business major at Stanford._

Charlotte and Molly watched as the other girl started to talk.

_Hi there, I'm Haley's sister Taylor. Age 24 and I'm a bartender. The reason why we should be cast is because we're both extremely hot and-_

Charlotte and Molly smiled when they saw the Haley girl turn to look at her sister horrified.

_Taylor!_

Molly was about to take the tape away from the VCR and throw it, when Charlotte took a hold of her hand and shook her head while keeping her eyes fixed on the TV. Molly looked at her boss surprised that in those few seconds she had already seen some potential. Molly turned to look at the screen in again, wanting to find that same potential as her boss had.

_-hot and beautiful and gorgeous and funny._

_Taylor, stop it! What my dear sister meant to say is that we both believe we could learn a lot by living with other people and we're not afraid of a challenge._

_Yes, that also._

_We done?_

_Yes, we are, Haley. Let me turn this thing off..._

Charlotte and Molly watched as Taylor sat up from the couch and walked towards the camera but instead of shutting it, she let it roll.

_Good… Tay, you're not seriously sending out that video, are you?_

_Of course I am, Hales. What's with the negativity?_

_Why did I let you talk me over? And you know what I think about reality TV. It sucks! It's fake! And the people in it? Fake, fake, fake! There's nothing real about those shows, they're all fixed._

_Jeez-Louise, take it easy. Just go back to your puzzles._

_It's sudoku, Taylor._

_Yeah, yeah, whatever-ku._

Charlotte and Molly saw as Taylor turned to look at the camera once Haley was out of the room.

_Okay, so that was totally lame. Let's start again. I'm Taylor and the reality-TV hater you just saw is my little sister Haley. Now, I know you must wonder why you should cast us on the show. What makes us different from the others? Well, here's the dirty little secret..._

Without noticing it, Charlotte and Molly inched closer to the TV screen as Taylor also leaned closer to the camera.

_..I'm not planning on being poor for the rest of my life. That's right, I'm in this to get paid. Kah-ching!_.

Molly laughed as Taylor rubbed her fingers together as if imagining money between them. Her face then turned serious and both Charlotte and Molly could feel that what was about to come next would be something good.

_Okay, MTV. Here's the deali-o. I'm a college drop out, wannabe-actress who will maybe luckily end up in one of the Girls Gone Wild videos but never making it farther that a bartender or a waitress._

Molly and Charlotte watched in awe at the complete honesty in Taylor. Taylor's sincere, sad face then turned into a proud one.

_But our sweet little Haley there? She got into Stanford straight out of high school. She's been a member of Mensa, the über-geek association, since she was 13. She can speak three different languages and she has a heck of a singing voice._

_But don't mistake smart for boring. She's funny, sarcastic, loud and can be mean if you manage to push the right buttons. See this scar on my shoulder? Haley got "a little" mad when I broke her science project on 5th grade._

Taylor showed a small but visible scar to the camera. Her soft, proud expression turned into a dry, annoyed and sarcastic as she looked at the camera again.

_Yeah, I didn't mess with her school work after that because apparently pushing me down the stairs is justified for breaking something stupid, boring and smelly._

Charlotte laughed out loud at the dry, annoyed look Taylor gave for the camera. Molly turned to look at her boss with wide eyes. She had never seen her laugh out loud because of an application video.

_Anyways! I really think that she's gonna be something great in the future and this would be the perfect opportunity to get her "exposed". You do wanna be responsible for finding the next Nobel prize winner, right?_

_So, please cast the two of us and help my sister get famous so I can live off of her money for the rest of my life. Ciao!_

Charlotte and Molly smiled as Taylor sent the camera a kiss before turning it off. Both women looked at the static on the TV screen without saying anything, and bumped their fists together simultaneously.

Charlotte reached to take the video from the VCR and turned to look at her assistant with a wide smile.

"Come on, Molly. Lunch at The Ivy, take the company credit card. We're celebrating." she said helping the young woman up from the floor.

"Wow, really? Thanks! I'll go make the reservation right now." she said while making a mental note in her head to buy her boss something nice next Christmas.

"Oh, and Molly, leave your car here. When I said we're celebrating, it means that we are _celebrating_." Charlotte said putting emphasis on the last word which gave the implication that there was going to be some serious drinking involved.

"Sounds awesome." Molly said jumping up and down in excitement.

"Oh, and if you want to, you can call up the cute guys in production and that one hot accountant to join us. We need some man candy."

"Oh, I definitely will." Molly said and gave out a loud, happy laugh while once again thanking any higher power for having the nicest boss on earth.

Charlotte smiled at how excited her assistant was of the offer and remembered for a second herself being that young and sweet. Though she was only 7 years older than her assistant, she felt so much older and hell of a lot more cynical. She had seen the dark side of business and money and never wanted anyone else to experience that.

Charlotte walked up to her desk slowly and set the precious video on a small box that had nine other tapes in it.

"Welcome to MTV, James sisters."

* * *

So, thoughts on the prologue? I know it was short, but I promise to make chapter 1 extra long. :) Please, review as always. :)

-Fes-


	2. Chapter 1: Welcome to MTV, Newbies

AN: Hello everyone! Thanks for all the great reviews you all posted. AWESOME! I love you all! Here's chappie two, please enjoy it. Oh, and enjoy the weekend 'cause on Monday it's back to going to work you hate, in a place that couldn't be more depressing and at a time that couldn't suck more. Oh wait, that's just me. :P No, but really, have a great weekend! Any big plans, by the way?

Quote of the day: Friends

Ross (when pregnant Rachel is mean): "You know, we should probably ask the doctor if she even knows how to deliver a baby that's half human, half PURE EVIL!"

* * *

Chapter 1. Welcome to MTV, Newbies.

3 months later in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

Week 1, Confessional Room.

_You want me to tell you about my first day here? Want me to tell you how my sister totally duped me to do this stupid show? Okay, you got like six hours? Because that's how long it'll probably take me to tell everything about our first day in Mexico from getting here, settling in and meeting the one and only Nathan Scott._

_Ok, let me start from the beginning then. Yesterday my sister Taylor and I flew from San Francisco to Cancun, Mexico. In the airport we were directed to a minivan where there were us two, few camera and mike men, some producers and other MTV staff._

_Taylor was more excited about getting in front of camera then she was at the birth of her first niece. Me on the other hand? Well, let's just say that I didn't "quite" share the same enthusiasm and excitement that my sister did..._

Day 1.

"I hate you. I hate you so much. So frigging much. More than anything else. Have I told you that lately?"

"Only every day."

"Seriously. This is insane. _You_ are insane."

"I love you too, sis." Taylor said with a smile while ruffling her sister's hair.

"Please, stay still." Both Taylor and Haley turned to look at the young woman who was putting microphones on the waistband of the back of their jeans.

They were in a small minivan in Playa del Carmen, Mexico on their way to the resort where they would possibly spend as much as the next 10 weeks, if they made it till the end.

They were anxious, excited and ready to start the most exciting chapter in their lives, well one of them was. Taylor gave Haley an excited grin who responded with an annoyed eye roll and a scoff.

Unlike Taylor, Haley had started to wonder more and more why she had agreed to that. _Oh yes, the money. Think about the money, Haley. Money, money, money, money, money, money…_ she chanted in her head.

"Sure, sorry." Taylor said to the woman who was putting their mikes on and had asked them to settle down. "I'm just so excited. I'm Taylor, by the way. And that's Haley."

"I know who you are. I'm Molly." the girl said with a smile. "I was actually there with my boss when she chose you two."

"Oh, really? So, what made her decide on us? What is my charm? Our looks?"

"We thought you were a fresh change from the others. Not to even mention how hilarious you were." Molly said.

"What's she talking about?" Haley asked from Taylor.

"Nothing!" Taylor said quickly and turned to look at Molly who had just finished with the mikes. "So, now what?"

"I can't tell you much. You'll meet with the rest of the cast once we get to our destination." Molly said. "You can settle down, unpack, get to know each other, et cetera. More information will follow."

"Sounds like fun." Taylor said. "So, I'm dying here. Who else is coming? From the previous seasons?" Taylor asked excited. "I mean, in addition to us Newbies."

"I really can't say anything." Molly said with a grin.

"Oh, come on. Please say that CT will be there. And Derrick. Oh, and definitely Evan. Johnny Banana. They are _fine_." Taylor said with a dreamy look as Haley just looked at her sister confused, obviously not knowing any of the guys Taylor has listed. .

"I agree." Molly said with a knowing grin. "All I can say is that it's going to be something new, great and it has never been done before."

"Oh, now you got me all excited!" Taylor said while clapping her hands enthusiastically. She turned to look at Haley, who was picking her finger nails bored. "Show some enthusiasm! It's MTV!"

"We're not on camera yet, so give me a break!" Haley hissed. "Let me try to enjoy the last minute of freedom I'll ever have." Haley said her hands crossed over her chest.

"Fine, be like that. But you're gonna have to learn to like it. There's no other choice."

"Oh, whatever." Haley said. "This is madness. I mean, just think about it! Who in their right minds would voluntarily do this?" Haley asked annoyed.

"Apparently we since we, you know, APPLIED!" Taylor said trying to make some sense into her.

"Momentary lapse of judgement followed by a longer period of insanity." Haley said with a sweet smile before continuing. "Which I'm apparently still suffering from considering I haven't bailed out yet."

Molly looked at the couple with a small smirk. They were proving to be far more entertaining than she had originally thought.

"Haley, think about the money. What we can do with it. Don't ever forget why we're here."

"I know, I know, I know. We're in it to win it." Haley said uncomfortably.

"You're damn right we are." Taylor said with a grin and high fived Haley.

"Though we still don't even know how much money we can even win…" Haley said.

"I know, on Fresh Meat season it was 250 grand for the winning team." Taylor said and started to count with her fingers. After about five seconds she looked at Haley with a grin, "That's 125 000 each."

"Wow, you're such a math geek." Haley said grinning.

"Oh, shut up. Didn't we already agree on our strategy? You're in charge of the brainy, geeky stuff while I take care of physical side. I didn't do 3 hours of cardio a day for two months for nothing." she said while lifting her shirt and admiring her almost perfect six-pack.

"Ok, you two ready?" Molly asked from the two.

"Yes!"

"No!"

Molly looked at the completely different girls with a smile. _This should be interesting…_

"Great! So, your mikes are all set now. You remember the information package we sent you? Please, tell me you have read it."

"Of course. See, I actually enjoy reading and learning." Haley said while looking at Taylor with a sweet smile as Taylor rolled her eyes.

"Great. As you read from the package, there are only three things that you must remember to _never_ do because those are the only things that can get you kicked from the show. First: no physical fighting. You hit, kick or attack someone? You're out. Use words! Number two: always keep your mikes on. Only when you're swimming, showering or sleeping are you allowed to take them off. And number three: you're not allowed to tell details about anything you do to any outsiders. I know you get home sick and you're on the phone a lot, but you can't really say anything specific. Be vague. That's it."

"No fighting, keep mikes on and be vague." Taylor said. "Got it."

"And whatever you think of MTV-" Molly said and looked at Haley quickly with a smile. "-you can always turn to us. We are here for you. If you're sick, we'll have a doctor in less than 2 minutes. If something is bothering or worrying you, the producers are always there. You'll never be alone." She said.

"Sounds great." Taylor said.

"Great." Molly said. "You ready to go on camera? After this there's no turning back."

"Absolutely." Taylor said.

"Alright!" Molly said and then turned to look at two guys who were sitting up front. The other guy was holding a big camera, while the other had a pair of headphones on and he was holding the huge mike that would be dangling over their heads. "Nick! Dan! You're on."

"We're almost there. We just want your first impressions. Whenever we ask you direct questions or if you're in the confessional room, look directly at the camera as if you were talking to the audience. But normally never look straight at the cameras, just pretend they don't even exist."

"Gotcha." Taylor said as Haley nodded her head.

Haley looked at the camera quickly and swallowed while being sure she would never get used to being filmed.

"Alright, so what are your first impressions? Are you eager to get out there?" Nick asked while pointing the camera in front of their faces.

"I can't begin to describe how excited we are! This is gonna be the best 10 weeks ever!" Taylor said while smiling to the camera. She turned to look at the uncomfortable Haley to see if she would say anything.

"Umh... yeah, what she said." Haley muttered.

"Good. Just try to be your self." Molly said to Haley as the van pulled up in front of a huge mansion. "Ok, now go. You'll be meeting the rest of the cast soon."

"Let's go, sis." Taylor said and jumped out of the van.

"I can't believe I'm doing this…" Haley mumbled while following her.

They went to the back of the van to get their suitcases.

Haley looked around and saw that there were nine similar vans. In the groups of two, people were piling out of the vans, getting their stuff and walking towards the entrance of the house where she saw a distantly familiar, young guy waiting for them.

"Haley, come on! Let's go socialize." Taylor said while starting to walk hurriedly towards the guy.

They got in front of the house where there were two huge carpets on the ground opposite from each other, a red and a blue one.

"Girls on the red, guys on the blue!" the young guy, who was waiting for them, yelled.

Haley and Taylor lined on the right side of the carpet, next to a blonde, curly haired girl and her brunette friend.

"You two for the show?" the brunette girl asked.

"Yeah, I'm Taylor and that's my sister Haley." Taylor said excited while hugging the petite brunette girl.

"I'm Brooke and the blondie is my best friend Peyton."

"Nice to meet you." Haley said while shaking hands and exchanging heys with everyone.

"MTV Newbies! Listen up!"

The whole group turned to look at the young, handsome dark haired guy who was trying to get the attention of everyone. Haley looked around and saw that the whole group of people had lined up on the carpets, all 10 guys on the blue and all 10 girls on the red one.

"Oh, my god! That's TJ Lavin!" Taylor said and squealed loudly.

"DJ who?" Haley asked.

"I'm TJ Lavin and I'll be your host! Welcome to the Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Season of the Newbies!" he yelled and grinned when the whole group erupted to cheer.

"Where's everyone from the previous seasons? The alumni?" Brooke asked looking around but could only see unfamiliar people.

"Yeah! That's what I was wondering earlier." Taylor said.

"I know you must be looking around, trying to see which ones are here from the previous seasons." TJ said with a huge, knowing grin that made Taylor and Brooke extremely worried.

"I bet you thought that this would be like the 'Fresh Meat' season in 2005, when there were both new contestants and also the veterans. Not gonna happen, Newbies." TJ said and laughed out loud when most of the girls groaned loudly in disappointment.

"Like I said, this is the season of Newbies." TJ said. "The season of you. Take a look around. That is your competition. You will be competing in teams of two to get to the final three, when money prizes are guaranteed. The team that finishes this season third, will get 10 000 dollars to be divided between the two team members." TJ said.

"10 grand! Yeah!" Brooke said high fiving Peyton.

"The team that finished second, will divide the amount of 20 000 amongst the two." TJ said and paused to let everyone cheer again.

"And finally, the team that finished first... will be getting a check for the total amount of..." TJ paused for a second, knowing that the place would erupt soon. "200 000 dollars."

"What?! Oh my god!"

"Sweet Jesus!"

"Haley, we're leaving this place rich!" Taylor yelled hugging Haley.

"Peyt, there's no way we're leaving without money." Brooke said to Peyton.

"There are no other prizes so you only compete to win the entire thing. If you get sent home earlier, you get nothing. Almost every week you will compete in a challenge that will be a mixture of physical and mental elements, to even the game. The team that does the worst in the challenge, will automatically be sent to Elimination. The team that wins the challenge will be immune from the Elimination. Everything clear so far?" TJ asked and saw a few nods here and there.

"Good. Few days after the Challenge, there will be a Voting where the teams vote who they think should compete in the Elimination against the team that lost the challenge. The team that gets the most votes from the others will also be sent to the Elimination where two teams compete in a serious of different challenges. The loser has 20 minutes to pack their bags and leave."

"So, basically if you lose the challenge, you go automatically to Elimination and the team that loses the Voting, will compete against them. Losing team goes home. Everything clear?" TJ asked and watched all the groups nod their heads in understanding.

"Before I let you go inside to unpack and socialize, let's have a quick name call so you will all know, who exactly is the person _in front_ of you. Trust me, it will play a big part later." he said with an excited voice, already certain that it would be one of the best seasons ever.

"Alright, let's start with the blue carpet. First group, go ahead!" TJ yelled pointing at the end of the carpet.

"Hey, I'm Mouth McFadden, 23 years old from Chicago, Illinois."

"And I'm Skills Taylor, 24, also from Chicago."

"So, Mouth and Skills." TJ Lavin said. "Something tells me you're going by your nicknames."

"You got it." Mouth said while the whole group laughed out loud.

"They look like nice people." Brooke whispered to Peyton, who made an agreeing sound.

"Alright, second group, go ahead."

"I'm Chase Adams and that's my frat buddy Jake Jaglieski. We just finished Ohio State." Chase said.

"I'm already liking what I'm seeing…" Taylor mumbled while looking at the two tanned guys.

"Tay, it's only been like 2 minutes." Haley whispered.

"I know… Aren't you aching for some hot, sweaty lovin' already?"

"How well you know me." Haley said sarcastically as the third group was announced.

"Chris Keller. Age 24 from New York. You're looking at the next Grammy winner, people." He said smugly.

"Yo, yo, yo, yo! How's it hanging, chicas! I'm Tim Smith, also from New York. Party in my bedroom tonight!" Tim said while looking at the girls and kissing his bicep.

"Idiot…" Brooke whispered.

"No kidding..." Taylor mumbled.

"Group number four, go ahead!" TJ Lavin said.

"Hi, I'm Jimmy Edwards."

"And I'm Junk Moretti. We're both 25 and from Nashville." Junk said.

"And no, there will probably be no parties in our bedroom." Jimmy said with a grin.

"But we'll party at yours!" Junk finished as all the girls burst out laughing.

"They look like fun." Peyton said with a smile.

"They look like smart." Haley said looking at the group of guys already thinking of possible strategies to beat them.

"And finally, the last guy group which is also the first of the two sibling groups we're gonna have here. Guys, go ahead." TJ said.

"Hey, I'm Lucas Scott, the older and wiser brother."

"And I'm the better looking Scott. Nathan, age 22, future NBA star." He said while grinning at the group of girls on the red carpet.

"And we're both from Tree Hill, North Carolina." Lucas finished.

"Oh, it's so on..." Brooke whispered while looking at the blonde guy with a sexy smirk.

"Hell yeah…" Taylor said at the same time, while checking out the hot brothers.

"Alright! Those were the guys' groups! Let's go on with the girls' now." he said as all the guys whooped. "Girls!" he said looking at the first group on the left side of the carpet.

"Hi, I'm Shelley Simon. Age 23 and from Miami."

"And I'm Anna Taggaro, age 24, Miami also. Nice to meet you all." She said and they both waved shyly.

"Is she wearing a 'Clean Teen' –shirt?" Brooke asked while looking at Shelley.

"Like that's gonna last…" Taylor said and smiled when Brooke burst out laughing.

Peyton and Haley looked at each other with similar, worried looks about the friendship their friends were forming.

"Group number two, go ahead."

"Gigi Silveri. 22, San Francisco."

"And Erica Marsh, 25, from Vermont. Gigi and I both went to Brown." Erica said while waving to everyone.

"Thanks girls. Let's move on. Group number three, go ahead." TJ said.

"Hi, I'm Rachel Gatina and that's my friend Bevin Marskey. We're 24, hot and gorgeous and here to party." Rachel said and grinned as the guys cheered.

"I smell trouble…" Taylor said while looking at Rachel who was only wearing a jean miniskirt and a bikini top.

"Girls go ahead." TJ said while looking at Brooke and Peyton.

"Hi, I'm Brooke Davis and that's my friend Peyton Sawyer." Brooke said.

"And we're from Los Angeles, California." Peyton said.

"Can't wait to meet you guys." Brooke said while blowing a kiss to the group of grinning guys.

"Alright, and finally last but not least, our second sibling group. Go ahead, girls."

"I'll do the talking." Taylor whispered and turned to look at the guys with a flirty grin. "Hi, everyone. I'm Taylor James and that's my younger sister Haley. We're from San Francisco, California. I'm the beauty, she's the brains." Taylor finished as everyone laughed.

"Was that necessary?" Haley asked irritated but kept the smile on her face.

"Alright, now that the introductions are done, you're free to get settled in." TJ said. "More information will come later. Now, go! Fight for the best bedroom." he yelled and smiled when everyone started to run with their luggage.

"Let's go, Hales!" Taylor yelled.

"Come on, Peyton!" Brooke yelled.

"We'll be right there." Peyton said with a grin as she and Haley stayed where they were.

Haley turned to smile at Peyton.

"So, you two are from LA?" Haley asked.

"Yeah, we've been best friends since we were like eight years old. We're originally from Colorado but we've been living in LA since freshman year in college."

"Cool." Haley said as they started to make their way inside the house.

"So, how old are you?"

"I'm 20 and Taylor's 24."

"Brooke and I are 22."

"So, I guess I'm the youngest here." Haley said thinking of what everyone had said.

"And the tiniest. Dude, no offence but how much do you weigh? Like 90 pounds?" Peyton said with a smile while starting to drag their stuff toward the house.

"Good metabolism." Haley said. "And thanks for calling me skinny."

"No problem, you need some meat on your bones. But don't worry, 10 weeks of drinking and partying should do it." Peyton said with a grin which made Haley laugh.

"I bet we're gonna get so bored after like the first week." Haley said.

"I know..." Peyton said and opened the front door of the house.

"Wow, this is gorgeous!" Haley said while looking around the house, feeling happy for the first time since setting foot in Mexico.

In true MTV tradition, the house they stayed in was gorgeous and had everything one could need. The house was a huge two-story mansion. All the four bedrooms were upstairs along with two huge bathrooms. Downstairs had a big living room with comfy coaches and a pool table. The kitchen was massive and there was a long dining table to fit all 20 people.

There was a small gym downstairs with some weights, tread mills, etc. Next to the gym was the den that had the computer, the confessional room and the T-Mobile Sidekick where they would receive all the clues and information about the upcoming challenges.

The kitchen had a back door that led outside. There was a patio with some swings, hammocks, barbeque grill and bunch of tables and benches. The huge backyard also had a swimming pool, Jacuzzi and a full sized basketball court. At the far end of the back yard, a set of stairs led to a small, private beach that was for them to use. All in all, it looked like one of those gorgeous, five-star villas that every luxurious resort had.

"Brooke!" Peyton yelled while trying to find her friend.

"Upstairs!"

Haley and Peyton walked up the stairs while pulling their huge suit cases behind them.

"Jeez, this is heavy..." Peyton said while dragging her huge suitcase with her.

"I know, mine too. I packed like 10 books with me." Haley said just as she made it to the top of the stairs.

"Oh, my god." Haley said while looking at the end of the hallway.

"What?" Peyton asked while coming behind her.

"Umh, Peyton?" Haley said.

"What?" she asked and took two more steps until she saw what Haley was looking at. "Already? She promised to behave for at least the first day..." Peyton muttered as she made her way to the end of corridor where Brooke was having a very heated conversation with Rachel while two cameras where filming the whole thing eagerly.

"-so, I don't know who the hell you think you are, but I was here first!" Brooke yelled to Rachel.

"Oh, you're so wrong! Bevin and I got here like two seconds before you did! Right, Bev?" Rachel yelled and turned to look at the blonde girl behind them.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure, of course." She said not really paying attention.

"Brooke? What's going on?" Peyton asked.

"Where the hell have you been? Never mind, it doesn't matter 'cause I found us a bedroom."

"The hell you did! That's ours!" Rachel yelled.

"Sorry, too late." Brooke yelled while opening the door she had been blocking. "You and Taylor are bunking with us." Brooke announced as she pushed Peyton and Haley in while waving Rachel goodbye before slamming the door on her face.

"What's so special about this room?" Haley asked while looking at Brooke who was keeping the door closed so Rachel couldn't get in.

Haley tried her best to ignore the camera man and the other guy who was holding the big microphone over their heads as they filmed their entire conversation.

"There are only four bedrooms, two of them are for 6 people and two are for 4, like this one. I don't know about you but I much rather share a room with three people than with five. Some guys already claimed the other smaller bedroom which is why 'Rach-whore' wants this one." Brooke said with the air quotes.

"Rach-whore?" Peyton asked laughing.

"Oh, isn't that her real name?" Brooke asked sweetly.

"I see you've already made one enemy." Peyton said grinning.

"Like that wasn't expected." Brooke sneered and turned to look at Haley. "Please, don't think I'm a horrible person. People like Rachel just annoy the shit out of me."

"Hey, you saw my sister, right? If I hated you, I'd be forced to hate her too." Haley said grinning.

"True, we two are alike. Should be fun." Brooke said.

"Or scary…" Peyton mumbled while Haley nodded her head in agreement.

"Speaking of scary, where's Taylor?" Haley asked.

"I don't know, she went to chat with some of the guys. It's the last bedroom on the right." Brooke said and opened the door for Haley but before she let her out, Brooke blocked the way out and glanced outside to make sure Rachel wasn't there.

"Clear." Brooke said and stepped out of Haley's way.

Haley smiled to herself while walking towards the last bedroom. Stepping through the open door, she grinned to herself when she saw Taylor already flirting with few guys while drinking beer.

"Tay." Haley said trying to get her attention.

"Hales! Come here!" Taylor said with a grin.

"What's up, guys." Haley said nodding her head.

"Not much... Haley, right?" a blonde guy next to Taylor said while getting up and offering his hand to her. "I'm Lucas and that's my brother Nathan." He said pointing at the dark haired guy who was throwing some clothes in his closet.

"Sup?" Nathan mumbled not bothering to look at her while concentrating on unpacking.

"Hey." She said and turned to look at the two other guys in the room.

"I'm Jake and that's Chase." Jake said.

"Nice to meet you all." Haley said and furred her brows when that Nathan guy didn't even bother to be polite.

"So, what's up sis?" Taylor asked.

"Nothing, just wanted to see what you were doing." Haley said.

"I thought I was supposed to be the concerned, responsible older sister."

"When have you ever been responsible?" Haley asked which made everyone laugh. "I'm surprised you didn't join in on the Brooke-Rachel fight."

"Yeah, I decided to stay out of it. Let them bitch it out." Taylor said as they both laughed.

"What fight?" Nathan suddenly asked. "Was there slapping involved? Maybe torn clothes? Water thrown on each other? Wet, see-through T-shirts?" he asked as he high fived Chase.

"No, but now I know who I should definitely _not_ ask for help if I get into a cat fight." Haley said dryly.

"Oh, don't be so sensitive." Nathan said.

"Whatever." Haley said turning to look at Taylor again. "I'm gonna go unpack. Talk to you later."

"Bye, Hales." Taylor said as Haley waved goodbye and left.

"Your sister seems like a ball of fun." Nathan said sarcastically.

"Oh, shut up." Taylor said laughing.

"She seems nice." Lucas said.

"She is." Taylor said looking into the distance for a second, in her own thoughts.

Taylor was about to say something when Haley suddenly ran back in the room out of breath.

"Haley, what's wrong?" Taylor asked worried.

"We got the clue to our first challenge!" she said.

"What? Already?" Taylor asked and got up. "Let's go."

They all ran to the den where the Sidekick was.

"Okay, is everyone here?" Gigi asked once they got inside the den.

Haley quickly counted everyone in the room.

"20. We're all here. Read it out loud." She said.

Jake grabbed the Sidekick and started to read out loud while the rest of the room held their breaths.

"Welcome to Mexico and to the Real World/Road Rules Challenge: the Season of Newbies. Throughout the next 10 weeks you will compete in a serious of challenges and almost every week one team will be eliminated. You will get all information to this Sidekick, so keep it with you at all times. Your first CHAlleNGE-" he read from the message and paused to look at everyone.

"They spelled the word 'challenge' with capital letters that spell 'change'." he said and then continued the message.

"-will require will stamina, balance and team work. Bring a swim suit, just in case. Be ready to leave 6 pm sharp." He said and looked at the clock on the wall.

"Oh my god, that's in five minutes!" he yelled.

"What?" Brooke yelled.

"Are you serious?" Taylor asked, still holding a beer can on her hand.

"Give me that..." Rachel mumbled and grabbed the Sidekick from Jake. "He's right. We have five minutes."

Everyone looked at each other for a second before sprinting off.

"Haley!" Taylor yelled while dragging Haley upstairs to their room, Brooke and Peyton right on their heels.

"I can't believe they'd do this..." Peyton mumbled while starting to go through her suitcase for her sneakers and shorts.

"Of course they will do this, it's MTV." Haley mumbled while quickly undressing and putting a two piece on.

"And what did they mean by 'change'?" Brooke asked changing into her small, tiny bikini.

"What else do I need?" Taylor asked already wearing her bikini.

"What do you think we're gonna have to do?" Haley asked.

"We're obviously gonna be swimming and probably running our asses off." Brooke said.

"Girls, we gotta go." Peyton announced.

"Alright, let's go." Haley said, while running out of the room after Taylor.

"Taylor, you're not drunk, are you?" Haley asked worried once they got inside one of the minivans that were waiting for them outside the house.

"No, if anything my blood sugar is all nice and high and I'm ready for this." She said cracking her knuckles.

"I'm so lucky I'm in your team." Haley said when Taylor flexed her bicep.

"You bet your ass you're lucky." Taylor said and watched as people started piling into the two minivans.

Brooke, Peyton, Nathan, Lucas, Rachel, Bevin, Chase and Jake joined them in the same car as the rest went to the other.

"So, what do you think the challenge will be about?" Taylor asked making small talk.

"The clue said something about balance and team work, right?" Peyton said.

"I don't know, it could really be anything." Bevin said.

"You all are so going down." Rachel said with a smug smile.

"Oh, is that so?" Brooke asked. "Because Peyton and I were planning on winning this one."

"If any of you chicks think you can beat any of the guys, you're sadly mistaken." Nathan said with a grin as Haley rolled his eyes.

"Oh, don't be so sure. The challenges can't be based on pure strength because that'd be unfair." Taylor said.

"Yeah, because guys are faster, stronger, smarter and better." Nathan said like it was the most obvious thing.

"Better?" Peyton asked as all the girls looked at him with crossed arms.

"Smarter?" Taylor asked through narrowed eyes.

"Puh-leeze." Brooke said.

"I'd bet our grandma that Haley is smarter than you two combined. She goes to Stanford." Taylor said looking at the Scott brothers.

"Oh, really?" Nathan asked and turned to look at Haley. "You think you're smart?"

Haley glared at both Nathan and Taylor; Nathan, for being a chauvinist pig and Taylor for putting her on the spot like that.

"I'll manage." Haley said, trying to hold her tongue so she wouldn't lash out on Nathan, who was starting to rub her off the wrong way.

"Oh yeah? What's 247 plus 489?"

"Do _you _know how much it is?" Haley shot back as all the girls laughed.

"Well, I don't have a calculator where I could check it." Nathan said.

"The Sidekick has." Jake said, taking it out of his pocket.

"Planning on stealing it?" Peyton asked with a grin.

"The clue said that we should always keep it with us." Jake said. "So, I'm keeping it with me all times." Jake finished with a wink.

"Whatever." Nathan said, already bored at their flirting. He turned to look at Haley. "So, what's 268 plus 476?" Nathan asked.

"That's not what you just asked." Haley said with a grin.

"Just answer the question." Nathan said annoyed.

"I really don't wanna play this game..." Haley said uncomfortably, not wanting people to find out too much about her. It was a game, after all, and keeping your cards close to yourself was never a bad idea.

"She doesn't know it. I guess Stanford is a bit overrated." Nathan said smugly.

"You know, you can be such a jerk." Haley snapped.

Everyone but Taylor ooh-ed as she looked at her sister worried, never wanting her to be part of the drama.

"Don't be so sensitive! I just wondering if you're as smart as you obviously think you are." Nathan said smugly.

"Fine. It's 744." Haley said through gritted teeth.

Nathan looked at her suspiciously before turning to look at Jake for confirmation.

"She's right." Jake said after few seconds.

"You happy?" Haley asked crossing her hands over her chest, annoyed that she'd been put in a spot like that.

"Nope, let's try a new one... 14 times 26?" Nathan asked.

Never breaking eye contact, Haley answered almost immediately.

"364."

Everyone turned to look at Jake who nodded his head.

"Wow!" Brooke said grinning.

"Let's try a tougher one." Nathan said, obviously pissed that she knew the answer. "Square root of 8456?"

"Approximately 91." Haley said picking her finger nails bored. "You done?"

"Fine, I'm done... you freak." Nathan said annoyed.

"Sore loser." Haley said looking at him through narrowed eyes. "Is that how you're gonna be after every challenge you lose to Tay and I?" Haley asked enjoying the feeling of being able to piss off Nathan.

"I really don't know which one I like more." Rachel whispered to the others while they watched Nathan and Haley argue. "I mean, he's totally hot but she's got the whole girl power thing going on. Sass!" Rachel said which made everyone laugh.

Ignoring Rachel, Nathan still glared at Haley.

"You better change that attitude before you get your ass voted to the Elimination." Nathan said his voice raising a bit.

"Nathan, come on..." Lucas said trying to calm his brother down.

"Oh, I have problems with my attitude?" Haley asked ignoring Lucas. "Ever since you got here you've been looking at every single girl here like a piece of meat. I bet you've already decided the order in which you're gonna go through us!" Haley said her voice raising a bit. "So, maybe _you_ should consider the attitude change before everyone will finally get sick of your chauvinism and vote _you_ to the Elimination!"

"Haley, calm down..." Taylor said to Haley while glaring at Nathan.

"Yeah, calm down..." Nathan taunted Haley. "And don't worry, I was never gonna try to hook up with you. I have some standards, you know."

"Oh, forgive me for misunderstanding. I didn't know assholes _had_ any standards." Haley said, determined not to let Nathan get the last word.

"It's like a frigging tennis match." Rachel mumbled excited while looking at Haley and Nathan go back and forth.

"And how about-" Nathan started but got cut off by Taylor.

"You! Shut up!" she said looking at Nathan with an angry glare. "Don't ever talk to my sister like that!"

Taylor then turned to look at Haley.

"And you need to calm down. Don't antagonize him. Both of you need to take a chill pill and shut the fuck up."

Haley looked at Taylor once before shutting her mouth and glaring at Nathan silently.

"What gives-" Nathan started but got cut off by Lucas this time.

"Nathan, she's right. Shut up and quit being a jerk." Lucas said.

"Amen to that." Brooke mumbled.

"You two need to learn to get along." Peyton said.

"Otherwise it's gonna be a long 10 weeks." Taylor said.

"So, can you do that?" Lucas asked.

"Can you just forget this and get along?" Taylor asked.

Haley and Nathan looked at everyone for few seconds while considering everyone's comments and opinions. They then turned to look at each other and both spoke simultaneously.

"Not gonna happen." Nathan said.

"Not in a million years." Haley chimed in.

* * *

_So, Nathan and I didn't really get along, to say the least. At that point I was thinking how the hell I'm gonna survive the next god knows how many weeks in the same house with him. Had I only known back then what MTV meant by "the change"..._

_So, when we finally got to the place where the challenge would be held, we jumped off the minivans and noticed that they had those blue and red carpets on the ground again. We were all sure that it was gonna be girls against boys competition or something like that._

_At that point I was already hating the game and thinking that my life couldn't get any worse. Oh boy, how wrong I was.

* * *

  
_

"Take a spot on the carpet, girls on red, guys on blue." TJ instructed as people started to pile out of the vans.

The girls all took spots next to their partners, while whispering to each other and trying to figure out the upcoming challenge. The guys, not really caring about the order, took a random spot on the blue carpet.

"Alright!" TJ said excited once everyone were lined up. He was standing between the two carpets, looking between the girls and the guys.

"First challenge! Everyone excited?" he asked.

"We'd be if you explained what the 'change' means." Brooke said with a smile.

"What do you think it means?" TJ asked with a knowing grin.

"You're gonna change the game somehow, right?" Rachel asked.

"Like girls versus guys, or something. I mean, that's why we're separated, right. You're gonna change the groups!" Taylor said.

"That is correct. There is gonna be a change in the groups." TJ said and paused. "But not the way you think."

Everyone looked at TJ with an unreadable face. Some were excited about the upcoming, some were worried.

"As you see, we've lined up the girls-" TJ said looking at the girls. "-opposite of the guys. But no, it won't be like the Battle of the Sexes we had. We already did that twice."

"Then what is it?" Mouth asked confused.

"Like I said earlier today, getting to know the person _opposite_ of you is crucial. Well, take a look at the person in front of you on the opposite carpet."

"Yeah?" Brooke asked and waved at Chase who was directly opposite of her.

"That's the person you'll be competing with. That's your team." TJ said.

"Wait, what?" Rachel asked confused.

TJ stayed silent for few seconds, just looking at them. He then grinned widely.

"You didn't _actually_ think you'd get to compete with the person you came here with?"

There was an awkward silence when everyone immediately looked at the person in front of them in the opposite carpet. Haley waved to Skills with a smile when she noticed that he was standing right in front of her.

"So, looks like we'll be..." Haley said to Skills but trailed off when she noticed that Taylor, who was standing on her right side, at the end of their carpet, had no one in front of her and Rachel, who was standing on Haley's left side, had two.

"Move one forward." Taylor instructed to the guys.

Skills took one more step to move in front of Taylor. Haley watched in horror as the person who had been next to Skills, stepped in front of Haley.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Nathan said as he looked at Haley with a look that was a mixture of misery and annoyance.

Haley glared at Taylor who was grinning at Skills obviously happy about her partner.

"_A fun, relaxing, long vacation_, Taylor?" Haley yelled mimicking her sister's words sarcastically.

Haley then looked up, as if trying to see god or any higher power pointing at her while laughing out loud at her expense.

"Are you _friggin'_ kidding me?!"

* * *

I know, I know… It's another one of those love-hate stories where they first hate each other and have funny, sarcastic fights but eventually learn how thin the line between love and hate really is.

I know, I've done this storyline like three times already but I can't get enough of it. :) So apologies to anyone who was waiting for a change, not gonna happen. I enjoy writing these stories way too much.

So, if you are looking for one those sappy, cheesy, über-romantic stories where the main couple gets together in the first chapter, I'm sorry but this won't be one of those. Not that there's anything wrong with them, I just can't write them. But if your cup of tea is funny sarcasm with some cuteness but nothing over the top, hop on the train. You're in for a long ride. :)

As always, please review. :)

-Fes-


	3. Chapter 2: The First is Always the Worst

AN: So sorry it took me this long update. Shame on me! Please accept my apology in the form of this superlong new chapter. :) Hope you enjoy and don't forget to review.

* * *

Quote of the day: Lost

Charlie [watching Jack fiddle with the transceiver]: "Anything?"

Jack [with a slight chuckle]: "You keep asking if there's anything."

Charlie [in annoyance] : "Pardon me for appearing desperate, but before the pilot was RIPPED FROM THE COCKPIT, he did say that no one's going to find us unless we get that transceiver working. So... is there anything?"

* * *

AN: Some of you had problems remembering all the people... Well, here's the full team list in alphabetical order:

Anna & Jake

Brooke & Chase

Bevin & Tim

Erica & Junk

Gigi & Jimmy

Haley & Nathan

Peyton & Mouth

Rachel & Lucas

Shelley & Chris

Taylor & Skills

* * *

**Chapter 2. The First is Always the Worst.**

Week 1. Confessional room.

_Our first day sucked! Not only did I already get into a fight with the biggest asshole in the house, Nathan, but I also got to know that I'd be partnered up with him FOR GOOD! I mean, seriously! This is obviously some cosmic revenge on something horrible I've done in my previous life because there's no way in hell no one should ever be punished this badly for nothing!_

* * *

_My wonderful holiday got just fucking killed! So, I found out that I wouldn't be teaming up with my brother Luke. Ok, it wasn't the end of the world. But what totally blew my changes of winning this entire thing, is the person I have to partner up with. Haley aka The Devil aka The Queen Bitch. Ok, I admit, the nicknames aren't the most innovative and original but catch perfectly the persona of Haley James._

_How can I describe her? She's athletically completely useless, she's supposedly smart but I don't buy it. She complains, bitches and moans and I'm pretty sure that that annoying, whiny, squeaky voice of hers will be stuck in my head for all of eternity!_

_

* * *

  
_

_Hmmm, Nathan Scott.... Nathan Scott is your typical, non-original frat-boy jock. He's selfish, annoying, egotistical, borderline narcissistic and emotionally retarded. He's supposedly this big future NBA player or something and he thinks he's god's gift to women. _

_He loves himself so much that I'm pretty sure he would turn gay if it was possible for him to clone himself and marry that clone. And make little Nathan-clones that would idolize him like the chauvinist, cocky asshole he is._

* * *

How did me and the Bitch react to finding out we'd be partners? 3 words: denial, denial, denial.

"Nuh-huh, this is so not happening... Hell no... Not in a million years..." Nathan shook his head in denial while muttering stuff under his breath.

Earlier that same day when they had flown to Mexico and started to shoot for the MTV reality show he had gotten in with his brother, Nathan had been more excited than ever before.

Now, just few hours later he wasn't sure how much, if at all, he would enjoy the next 10 weeks. He had just found out that he'd be partnered up with Haley, the girl he couldn't stand, for the remainder of the game.

Nathan turned to look at Lucas, who was standing next to him. "Switch with me. Now."

"Sorry, no switching." TJ Lavin, the host of the show, said with a smile.

Nathan looked at TJ with an unreadable expression which then turned into a defeated one.

"Why do you hate me?" Nathan asked from TJ with a blank face which made everyone smile.

"I'll answer that." Haley said her hands crossed tightly around herself.

"Oh, shut up, Haley. Nobody cares what you think." He snapped.

"Don't be such an ass, Nathan. Ever heard of karma? It can be a real bitch."

"And so can you apparently." Nathan shot back.

Not bothering to say anything, Haley only showed him her middle finger with a sweet smile.

"Ok, so we have 10 new groups." TJ said with a grin. "Each has one guy and one girl. You'll be picking team colors next. First group over here, Skills and Taylor. Pick a color."

Taylor and Skills looked into 10 different see-through packets that were filled with tops, T-shirts, caps, hoodies, etc. of the particular color.

"Pink!" Taylor yelled excited.

"Taylor!" Skills yelled horrified.

"Pink it is." TJ said and grinned while Taylor did a happy dance while getting their packet.

TJ turned to look at the next couple. He grinned when he noticed Haley mouthing 'I hate you' slowly to Nathan who merely rolled his eyes bored.

"Next we have the 'happy couple'. Nathan and Haley, what will it be?" TJ asked with a grin.

All the other teams were whispering by themselves, high fiving each other and already forming alliances. All but Nathan and Haley. They were glaring at each other with clenched jaws and crossed arms, neither wanting to believe what had just happened.

"I _so_ don't care." Haley said bitterly, still glaring at Nathan, not wanting to back off first.

"Whatever." Nathan said through gritted teeth, also not even glancing at TJ or the possible colors.

"You gotta pick one." TJ said and almost laughed out loud when the two turned to look at him with the same, matching glares.

"Fine, green." Haley said bored.

"Green it is." TJ said and looked at the next team. "Rachel and Lucas."

"Yes, Lucas dear, which color would you like?" Rachel purred while leaning on his shoulder seductively.

"Um, I don't care. Which one would you like?" he asked politely and almost embarrassed by the flirting.

"Oh, I don't mind. Whatever you want I'm fine with." Rachel said with a sweet voice which made the other girls want to puke.

"Uh, we'll take brown because it doesn't get dirty so easy." Lucas said to TJ while missing the glare Rachel gave him briefly. She quickly recovered from it and put on a fake smile.

"Yes, brown is fine. It's absolutely fantastic. Perfect." Rachel muttered sarcastically while getting the packet from TJ. "It'll match perfectly with all the brown clothes that I have... NOT!"

"You okay?" Lucas asked confused when Rachel came back.

"I'm perfect." She said smiling sweetly.

"Alright, next one is Bevin and Tim." TJ said.

"We'd like to have yellow because it's a funny, sunny color." Bevin said with a stupid grin.

"And because we're funny, sunny people." Tim said with the same smile.

"Oh, those two are perfect." Brooke whispered with a smile which made her partner, Chase laugh out loud.

"Next up, Chase and Brooke."

"Yeah, hi. We want purple." Brooke said with an excited gleam in her eyes.

"It's her favorite color." Chase said.

"Alright, purple it is. Next we have Peyton and Mouth? What's your choice?"

"Black!" Peyton yelled immediately and then turned to look at Mouth. "Is that ok?"

"Sure. It'll make me look skinnier which is exactly what I need. You know, don't wanna look too buff." He said with a smile while everyone laughed.

"Next team, Shelley and Chris. What will it be?"

"Blue." Chris said. "Blue because that's what all the ladies feel like if they don't get a piece of the Chris."

"Or because it'll match with the bruises on your body once I'm through with you." Shelley mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear which made the crowd laugh again.

"Ooh, feisty." Chris said and smacked Shelley in the ass which made her even more furious.

"Calm down, Shel." Anna said holding her friend back so she wouldn't attack Chris.

"I know, I know... Violence will only get me kicked off..." she said. "Which probably wouldn't be the worst thing to happen." She added under her breath.

"Next we have Anna and Jake. Color?"

"Red, please." Anna said and went to get the packet.

"Then the last two teams: Gigi and Jimmy, Erica and Junk. Gigi and Jimmy?"

"We know that orange is Erica's favorite color so Gigi and I'll take white." Jimmy said.

"Aaw, you two are too nice." Erica said with a smile. "I guess orange is ours then."

"Alright, we have all the 10 groups and their colors. We'll start the first challenge in 10 minutes." TJ said and went to talk to the producers and camera men.

"Goddammit, woman." Skills said to Taylor while taking a pink t-shirt out of their packet.

"Oh, come on. You'll look good in anything. Besides, only real men are comfortable with wearing pink. You're a real man, right?" Taylor asked with a grin while taking a small, pink tank top and matching shorts.

"Of course I am." He said quickly. "And I think that pink was an excellent choice." Skills said and high fived Taylor.

"Good." She said and turned to look at a group of four next to them when she heard them laughing and having fun.

* * *

"How lucky were we that we got to stay as a group?" Gigi said excited while opening their packet.

"I know, it's good to know that at least us four will stick together." Junk said while looking at the four of them.

They had luckily stayed as a group. Gigi and Erica who had originally been partners, were now with Junk and Jimmy, who also had been partners originally.

"It couldn't have worked better." Erica said. "We're the only ones that just switched partners."

"And we already get along perfectly and are comfortable around each other." Jimmy said.

"Yeah, I mean, look at those two." Gigi whispered while looking at a very uncomfortable Lucas and an excited Rachel.

* * *

"Alright, Luke. Don't watch, 'cause I'm gonna change now." Rachel said but made sure that she was facing him once she took her shirt of, revealing a small bikini top.

She huffed annoyed when Lucas actually turned around so she'd have her privacy.

"So, got a girlfriend?" Rachel asked.

"No, I'm not dating anyone." He said.

"How's that possible?" she asked sweetly. "With a guy as gorgeous as you it seems practically impossible."

"I don't know, I guess I just haven't found the one yet." He said obviously missing Rachel's flirting.

"Oh, don't worry. You will." She purred while throwing her hands around him.

"Thanks, you will too." He said brushing her hand away from his shoulder.

Rachel huffed annoyed and turned to look at Brooke when she heard her burst out laughing.

* * *

"Aah, that was so funny." Brooke said when she saw Lucas brush Rachel off. She turned to look at Chase with a huge grin on her face.

"You two really don't get along, huh." Chase said referring to Rachel. "Heard you two already had a fight about some room or something."

"Yeah, she's just so annoying and fake. I can't stand her." Brooke said.

"Well, at least we have a good team." Chase said giving her a smile.

"Totally, buddy." She said suddenly throwing her tank top away which made Chase blush and cough loudly when he saw her teeny bikini top.

Noticing his flushed face, Brooke looked at him with a smile.

"Awww, you're so sweet." She said while putting the purple top on. "If only it would have the same effect on everyone..." she muttered while looking at Lucas briefly.

"So..." Chase said distracting Brooke from dreaming of Lucas. "Like I said, I think we're a good team."

"We will make it to the end, trust me on this." Brooke said while starting to take her small shorts away so she could put the purple ones on.

Chase turned around embarrassed and looked at Tim and Bevin who were sitting on the ground opposite of each other.

* * *

"So, you're Bevin." Tim said sitting on the ground, already wearing their yellow team color.

"And you're Tim." Bevin said with the matching top and shorts.

"And we're in Mexico." Tim said stating the obvious once again.

"Exactly."

"It's kinda weird." Tim said. "I don't get why they don't speak American with a southern accent here. I mean, this is _South America_, speak the language people!" Tim said not only thinking that Mexico was in South America instead Central, but also believing that American was a language, instead English.

"Don't worry." Bevin said. "My nanny taught me Mexican. Listen up!" she said excited and cleared her throat. "Nacho. Salsa. Gracias. And check this out: Quesadilla."

"Wow, you're really smart." Tim said in awe.

"And pretty." She added with a smile.

"Me too. We're a good team."

"I know!" she said smiling. "And so much better looking than those two for example." She whispered while pointing at Mouth and Peyton who were stretching close to them.

"I totally agree." Tim whispered.

* * *

"So, Mouth. What's your real name?" Peyton asked while stretching her arms.

"It's Marvin. But I've been called Mouth since high school." Mouth explained.

"Because..." Peyton asked.

"Because I used to do sports podcasts for our school's website."

"Really? I used to do podcasts too!" she said. "Only they were kinda dark, moody and really didn't serve anyone accept me. But it beat having to go see a shrink."

"Okay..." Mouth said a bit uncomfortably which didn't go unnoticed by Peyton.

"I used to have daddy and mommy issues."

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to." Mouth said feeling bad for Peyton.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm past that all now..." Peyton said with a smile.

"Good. But if you do wanna talk, I'm here." Mouth said.

"I will." She said and looked at Mouth with a friendly smile and threw her arm around his shoulders. "Mouth, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

"I know!" Mouth said happily. "I'm glad we're partners."

"Me too." She said and noticed Shelley, the Clean Teen girl, looking at her team mate Chris Keller annoyed.

"She certainly got the short end of the stack..."

* * *

"Shel-"

"Don't talk, Chris."

"But, I-"

"Shhhh!"

"I just-"

"Zip it, Chris!"

"We should-"

"If you don't have anything challenge-related to say, keep your mouth shut."

"It is challenge-related, Chris Keller promises!"

"Fine, what is it?"

"Wanna go to the hot tub with the Chris later today?"

"Maybe."

"Really?"

"So I can drown 'the Chris'? Sure."

"Chris Keller doesn't like Shelley."

"Go annoy someone else before I'm forced to get violent with you."

"Alright, Chris understands. But Chris will-"

"Go!"

"But-"

"And stop referring to yourself in 3rd person!"

"Alright, calm down, woman. Chris goes. Yo, Anna chick! Que pasa!"

* * *

"...so when I found out that Felix- Oh my god, is that Chris?! Please, do something."

Jake turned around to see Chris jogging their way. He had a flirty look on his face and he was grinning at Anna.

"Chris, we're kinda busy now. Talk to you later, ok?" Jake said.

"Busy? Doing what? It's- Oh, Chris understands. Way to make a move, dude. Later." He said and walked back to the very unhappy looking Shelley.

"Thanks, Jake." Anna said gratefully.

"No problem. So, you were saying something about your brother." Jake said.

"Yeah, so when Felix didn't get accepted here but I did, I could finally laugh in his face!"

"Must've been nice." Jake said to Anna. "So, you two are not that close, huh?"

"No, we used to be really tight back in elementary school and junior high, but we kinda grew apart when I-" Anna suddenly stopped in her tracks which made Jake look at her curiously.

"When you what?"

Anna looked around to make sure no one could hear her.

"Okay, you seem like a nice, trustworthy person. I'm gonna tell something but please don't tell anyone."

"Of course not." Jake said seriously.

"I'm bi-sexual." she whispered.

"Okay."

"That's it?" Anna asked.

"Well, it doesn't really change the way I think about you." Jake said. "You seem like a nice, genuine girl and I'm glad we got paired together. I believe we can get far as a team."

"I agree!" Anna said smiling. "And I'm so happy it doesn't bother you."

"Why would it?" Jake said with a smile. He then looked at her thoughtfully and then around to make sure there were still no eavesdroppers. "I actually have something to tell you too."

"You're bi too?" she asked with a grin.

"No." Jake laughed. "I have a 4-year-old daughter, Jenny."

"Really?" she asked with a wide smile.

"Yeah, my girlfriend got pregnant when I was a sophomore in high school."

"That must've been tough." Anna said. "Are you two still together?"

"No, but we get along. I just miss Jenny so much and I've only been here less than a day." Jake said.

"I can only imagine." Anna said.

"She's the reason I applied to this thing. I'm trying to win the money for us." He said.

"I understand." Anna said. "And now that I know that you're actually here with good intentions, I'm gonna try so much harder to win this."

"Thanks. Me too." He said and they bumped their fists together.

"I'm so glad we're not like them." Anna whispered while pointing towards Nathan and Haley.

* * *

Nathan was sitting on the ground, his eyes closed while Haley stood by him, looking at him confused.

"What are you doing, Nathan?"

"Trying to get in the zone." He mumbled slowly.

"That's lame."

"You've obviously never played sports." He said in a quiet voice, still keeping his eyes closed.

"I have. I used to do karate." Haley said annoyed.

"I think you mean _sudoku_, geek."

"Hey, for all you know, I might've been the captain of the soccer team."

Nathan opened one eye and looked at Haley's tiny, skinny figure from head to toe before closing his eye again.

"Based on the total lack of muscle development in your body, I'd put my money on the math club."

"Shut up, you don't know anything about me!" Haley said annoyed.

Nathan, finally certain he could not get any piece of mind, sighed loudly and opened both of his eyes and glared at Haley.

"Seriously, Haley. Can you even do a push up? You do know that the challenges will also require physical strength? It's not just gonna be puzzles and maps and questions."

"I hate you." Haley hissed.

"I hate you more."

"Oh, I very highly doubt that, Nathan." She said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, you 'very highly doubt that'?" he said mocking her. "Fancy words, geek."

"Fancy? _Fancy_?! Oh my god, did you _not_ finish high school? Did your parents drop you on your head constantly when you were a baby? Do you idolize Forrest Gump? Have you been-"

"I get it, I get it! Now, shut up, woman!"

"We should've chosen red for our color so that when I beat you up, the stains won't show."

"Or the evidence of your period since you're obviously PMS-ing now. There's no way anyone can normally be as big of a bitch as you are being now."

"Girls PMS _before_ they have their period, you retard."

"That's disgusting."

"Hey, you brought it up, jerk."

"What does it take to shut you up, huh? Seriously, Haley. I'll do anything as long as I get that annoying, whiny voice of yours out of my head. I swear to god I'm gonna hear it in my sleep."

"You wish I'd be in your dreams."

"You? In my dreams? No. Maybe in my nightmares when I'm in hell being tortured by the Satan. No, wait! It's not Satan, it's you! But then again..."

"But then again, what? _What_? Why are you looking me like that? Nathan, what are you doing? What are– Ewww, get your hands off of my hair, you freak!"

"Ouch! Don't scratch me, Haley!"

"Don't touch me! What the hell was that? Have you gone insane?"

"Just tried to prove me theory that you and Satan are in fact the same person."

"By touching my head?"

"By trying to find the horns."

"I hate you!"

"I hate you more!"

"I very highly doubt that."

"Oh, you 'very highly doub-"

"Alright, Newbies! Break's over!" TJ yelled so everyone could here. Haley gave Nathan one more glare before turning to look at TJ.

"So, what's the first challenge?" Brooke asked excited.

"See those poles in the water?" TJ asked and everyone turned to look at the ocean.

There were ten huge, thick, wooden poles sticking out from the water, the closest pole about 10 feet from the beach. The poles were positioned so that they were in a huge circle about 5 feet apart from the next one. Since it was starting to get darker and darker outside, huge spotlights were directed towards the poles so the cameras would be able to get everything on tape.

"Your challenge is very simple. With your partner, you will stand on top of your pole for as long as possible. The team that stays the longest, wins. It's that simple."

"Are you serious?" Rachel yelled to TJ. "There's no way two people can fit to stand on that!"

"The diameter of the poles is approximately one foot. So, there's room for both to stand up but not much else. Only the bottom of your feet may touch the pole. So, no sitting."

"Not that there'd be any room for that." Haley muttered while looking at the poles.

"You all seem to be getting along well." TJ said and then glanced at Nathan and Haley. "Well, relatively speaking."

"Yeah... It's a good group." Brooke said nervously.

"Well, this 'change' might stir things up a bit."

"Now what?" Rachel asked annoyed that there would be another change.

"Hope you all didn't unpack everything just yet. Because _two_ teams will be leaving the game and going back home..." He said and smiled when everyone gasped and yelled 'what'. "...tonight!"

"What?!" Brooke yelled.

"We just got here!" Taylor yelled.

"That's not fair!" Rachel said.

"We haven't even settled in yet." Mouth mumbled sad.

"Makes this challenge a bit more important, don't you think." TJ said. "Here's what's gonna happen. The team that loses this challenge will automatically go home. The team that wins will right after this challenge pick two other teams that will go straight to Elimination which will take place immediately after. The loser of that goes home." He said and paused for emphasis. "So, unless you win this challenge, you're not safe."

"That's rough." Chris said and for the first time he actually seemed serious.

"This is a game." TJ said in a serious voice. "200 000 dollars is a lot of money. You gotta fight for it. You gotta want it."

"This is gonna get nasty..." Peyton mumbled.

"This challenge is not about pure strength or stamina or intelligence. It's about who wants it the most." He said and paused to look at everyone, making sure he was understood.

"So, let's start the challenge." TJ said. "I have a feeling it's gonna be a long one."

Everyone started to walk towards the water with their partners while discussing possible strategy. Everyone but Nathan and Haley, who were once again on each other's throats.

"We're not getting off of that pole until we're the only ones left, got it?" Nathan said with a determined voice.

"Let's just get through this challenge." Haley said and started to take her shirt off.

"I'm serious. I'm not gonna lose this game, even if I'm partnered with someone like you."

"Oh, shut up." She said while starting to undo the knot on her shorts.

"And why the hell are you undressing?" he asked annoyed.

"I'm not gonna get my clothes wet." She said taking her shorts off, revealing her swim suit and starting to walk deeper in the water while holding her top and shorts in her left hand.

"Who cares?" Nathan asked.

Haley turned to look at Nathan annoyed. Looking around to make sure no one was listening, she turned to Nathan again.

"Do you have any idea how cold the nights get? Especially when we are by the water where it's always windy. I don't know about you but catching pneumonia because of wearing wet clothes for the next god knows how many hours, is not something I'm planning on doing." She said and started to swim towards the closest pole.

Most of the groups were already in the water but the ones who weren't, looked at Haley hold her clothes in the air while swimming to the first pole. Taylor, Skills, Brooke and Chase looked at Haley, turned to whisper to their partner and suddenly also stripped their clothes.

Nathan, seeing all this, sighed and pulled his shirt off before going in the water.

Few minutes later, they were all standing on top of their poles. Haley, Nathan and the few lucky were wearing dry clothes while the rest were soaking wet.

"Everyone ready?" TJ asked as soon as the last group had climbed the pole.

"This challenge starts... now!" he yelled and took a comfortable seat on a beach chair on the beach.

For the first 10 minutes, everyone was quiet while moving around on the small pole, trying to find a comfortable, secure position. All the teams figured out very soon that standing next to each other was not possible because their hips took too much space and kept bumping together. The only possible way was to be standing face to face.

After about 15 minutes of silence people started to talk to their partners quietly. After 15 more minutes, everyone was already looking around bored, thinking of ways to pass the time.

All this time Haley and Nathan stayed quiet, except for the 'you're stepping on my foot' and 'you stink' –comments they made to each other every once in a while. Unlike the other teams that were facing each other and were extremely close to one another, Haley and Nathan had chosen a different strategy.

Since they both pretty much hated each other's guts and the thought of touching the other disgusted both beyond understanding, they had turned around so that they their backs were facing.

"Hey, TJ!" Brooke yelled towards the beach, finally breaking the silence.

The sudden noise startled almost all of the groups and few of them even lost their balance for a second, which pleased Brooke even more.

"How can I help you, Brooke?" TJ asked with a smile.

"How long have we been here?"

"What do you think?" he asked back.

"I don't know, like hour and a half, maybe." She said and turned to look at the other groups on the poles. "What do you think?"

"Maybe an hour?" Taylor suggested.

"I don't know. It feels like more." Gigi said and many nodded their heads in agreement.

"So much more..." Shelley sighed. The second they had gotten on the pole, Chris had been nothing but a pain in the ass.

"The challenge started exactly..." TJ said and looked at a sports watch. "39 minutes ago."

"What?!"

"It can't be!"

"You're kidding, right?"

"_Mentiroso_!" Anna yelled in a thick Spanish accent with a smile which made everyone laugh.

"Sorry, guys. I suggest you try to think of something to pass the time." He said.

"Oh, whatever..." Rachel said and looked at everyone. "This is a total rip off anyways. Didn't they have this challenge in Survivor once?"

"Season 2 the Australian Outback, episode 7. Tina would've won but she let the cheff, Keith, have the immunity." Skills said quickly. Everyone burst out laughing at the detailed, quick answer. "What? It's a good show!"

"It is." Brooke said reassuringly while grinning to Peyton who was standing on the pole next to hers.

"So... anyone got any good jokes?" Rachel asked.

"I have one." Jake said sheepishly.

"Alright, let's here it." Peyton said reassuringly.

"Why doesn't Jack Bauer ever have to eat, sleep or go to the bathroom?" Jake asked and paused to look if anyone had heard it.

When no one said anything, he continued. "Because his organs are scared to make him angry."

Everyone laughed at the punch line with a comfortable, relaxed look. Even Haley and Nathan chuckled at the joke, forgetting their hatred for a second.

"I have one. Why is six afraid of seven?" Mouth asked and paused for a second. "Because seven ate nine."

Everyone laughed out loud and were happy that they were all getting along.

"I don't get it." Tim whispered to Bevin who was laughing loudly.

"Me neither. Just keep laughing." she said through her wide smile.

"Hey, I have also one." Chris announced. "What do you call a person who's inadequate, dumb and talks a lot?" Chris asked. "A woman." He said and started to laugh out loud, not noticing the annoyed looks all the girls gave him.

"You're unbelievable." Shelley said annoyed.

"Thanks." He said, clearly not understanding that she didn't mean it as a compliment.

"Hey, TJ!" Shelley yelled. "Is it enough if only one person stays on the pole?" Shelley asked, ready to push Chris off if she got the satisfying answer.

"Sorry, both of the team members have to be on the pole." He said entertained.

"Dammit!" she muttered to herself.

"Hang in there." Haley said with a smile.

"Why are you encouraging her?" Nathan hissed quietly.

"Because I can relate to her situation. It's not easy to hate your partner." She hissed back.

The group fell silent again. Whispering to each other and thinking through their strategy, everyone kept to themselves.

No one wanted to seem like the weakest link to the other teams. They all knew what was at stake there. The group to first get out would be off of the game, it was as simple as that. There were no ifs, ands or buts.

As time went by, the teams that hadn't realized to keep their clothes dry, started to feel the cold weather creep in. The more the "wet" teams shivered, the more it gave hope to the "dry" teams because they knew they had the advantage.

"3 hours have passed." TJ announced from the beach.

"Only?" Haley muttered to herself while making small circles in the air with her sore ankle.

Everyone was quiet, no one daring to say anything. The wet groups became colder, concentrating on trying to warm each other. The dry ones didn't have that problem yet but they could feel that the night was about to get colder and colder.

"Skiilllls..." Taylor whined quietly. "You gotta keep me entertained." She muttered in a bored voice.

"Sorry, girl, but I'm just as bored as you are." He mumbled back.

Haley looked over her shoulder and gave her sister a weak smile. Most of the groups were hugging each other, so they could be as close to the center of the pole as possible in case they accidentally lost their balance for a second. The more vital and important reason though was that hugging the other kept them warm. Or as warm as it was possible.

But not Nathan and Haley. As soon as they had stepped on the pole they had turned their backs so that they weren't even facing each other. Both had taken a spot as far away from the other as possible but since the pole was only a foot wide, they were still disturbingly close to their liking.

Hugging herself, Haley looked at all the other groups quickly. Most were seriously suffering from the cold, based on how close to each other they were being and how much they were still shivering.

She looked at the groups and noticed that everyone was either whispering quietly with their partners or deep in their thoughts.

To pass the time, Haley started to go through all the substances in her head, a habit she had since she was a kid.

Haley noticed Rachel wearing a sour look on her face while shivering in cold and hugging Lucas even tighter.

_What the hell is up with Lucas? My hints are so obvious that they're not even hints anymore. What's his problem? I mean, I'm a hot, sexy, funny woman and every guy would be happy to have me! But sweet Jesus, his hands are so strong..._

Rachel glanced at her friend Bevin who was having a quiet, serious-looking conversation with Tim.

"Alabama, Alaska, Arizona... what the hell comes after Arizona?" Tim asked confused.

"Colorado? Florida?" Bevin asked scratching her head. "Geography was never my strongest subject."

"There's California first. I think. Wait is E before C?" Tim shrugged her shoulders confused.

"Let's play something else."

"Totally." Tim said relieved.

"Name all Laguna Beach characters in the order of the seasons."

"LC, Kristin, Stephen, Lo,-" Tim started to name all the characters without a problem.

While listening to him, Bevin glanced at Shelley who was looking at her partner Chris annoyed while whispering something through gritted teeth.

"I swear to god if you don't shut up this second I'm gonna deliberately push you in the water. I don't care if we have to go home or not."

"Jeez, calm down woman. Chris was just trying to keep us warm."

"Trust me, you touching me gives me worse goose bumbs than this weather ever could." She said.

"Fine, Chris understands." He said holding his hands in the air in surrender.

"Good."

"So, wh-"

"Stop talking." She snapped and turned to look over her shoulder when she heard Gigi, Jimmy, Junk and Erica laughing at something together.

"They seem to be getting along nicely." Haley muttered out loud so that few poles next to her heard her.

Brooke, who heard Haley's comment, also turned to look at the laughing foursome. She in turn looked at Peyton with a worried look. Even though they were all getting along nicely, they all knew that it was a game. They all had watched enough reality shows to know that alliances were bad and should be broken. And those four seemed to have one already.

"That can't be good..." Rachel mumbled to Lucas who nodded his head in agreement.

Haley looked around and noticed that all the groups were now staring at the laughing foursome. It was bad enough that everyone was freezing and pretty much miserable, but to see a group of four that were clearly in an alliance, actually having fun and laughing, infuriated everyone more than it would've normally.

Rachel, already pissed off by Lucas's attitude, glared at the group of four. She turned to look at Bevin.

"They're gone." Rachel mouthed to Bevin who nodded her head in agreement before whispering something to Tim.

"4 hours." TJ yelled from the beach bored.

"Hey, Skills." Haley asked. "How long did the challenge go on in Survivor?"

Everyone turned to look at Skills who looked back at them sympathetically.

"Like 9 hours." Skills said and everyone groaned out loud. "And it would've gone longer if Tina hadn't stepped down voluntarily."

"That's great. Just perfect." Haley mumbled hugging herself tighter when she felt another wave of coldness hit her tiny body.

The whole group quieted down again, all in their own thoughts. Time went by and everyone fell deeper into their thoughts. The weather became even more cold and windy, making everyone shiver even more. The sound of clicking teeth and the shivery movement took over the night.

Some were so deep in their own thoughts that they didn't immediately realize what happened next.

"Oh shit..." Junk said suddenly wincing in pain.

"What? What?" Erica asked worried.

Everyone turned to look at Junk who was groaning out loud in pain.

"Junk?" Jimmy asked worried from the other pole.

"My legs are cramping." He said.

Everyone looked at their partners with hopeful looks.

"Just hang in there." Gigi said from the next pole.

"Yeah, hang in there!" Jimmy said.

"Aargh..." Junk mumbled and squatted down in pain.

When Junk started to stand up again, he lost his balance for a second and was about fall backwards to the water, but managed to grab the pole before doing so. He stood up and sighed in relief once he felt the pain go away slowly.

"Erica, Junk!" TJ yelled from the beach. "You're out."

Everyone gasped and looked at TJ.

"What? Why?" Junk asked in a panicked voice.

"You touched the pole." TJ said. "The rules said that only the bottom of your feet can touch the pole."

"Shit!" Junk yelled when he realized he had grabbed the pole when trying to gain his balance back.

"Sorry, you're out of the game." TJ said.

Junk looked at Erica with a guilty, apologetic look.

"Erica, I'm so sorry. So sorry."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up. You didn't do it on purpose." She said.

"But still..." he said disappointed.

"Hey, at least we didn't give up." She said trying to stay positive.

"You ready?" Junk asked looking at the water.

"Yeah, let's do this." She said and dived in the water after Junk did.

They swam to the beach where they got warm blankets and dry clothes.

Though everyone felt bad for Junk and Erica, the uncomfortable, impatient quietness was over now. They all knew that they had just dodged a bullet. Silence took over again but this time all the groups were chatting with a more positive tone.

"Alright, since it seems we're all gonna be here for a while, we need to come up with something to pass the time." Rachel said.

"Any ideas?" Bevin asked.

"Let's play 'I never'." Brooke said excited.

"That's lame." Nathan said.

"Shut up, it could be fun." Haley said but then looked at Brooke confused. "But how can we play if we don't have anything to drink?"

"Instead of drinking, raise your hand." Brooke said.

"That's lame." Rachel said mimicking Nathan's comment.

"Do you have a better idea?" Brooke asked annoyed. When Rachel didn't answer Brooke huffed with a smirk. "Didn't think so. Okay, let's start this thing. I've never... slept in a tent."

Everyone looked around to see who raised their hands. All the guys raised their hands and laughed when Haley and Taylor were the only girls to raise their hands.

"We used to go camping all the time when were kids." Haley said with a smile.

"Do you remember that time when the twins broke the zipper of your sleeping bag?" Taylor asked with laugh. Haley's smile turned into a frown when she remembered the incident.

"Yeah, I was stuck in the bag for almost two hours." Haley said with a dry voice which made everyone laugh.

"Aaw, that was so funny..." Taylor said.

"I almost suffocated to death." Haley said annoyed.

"If only..." Nathan muttered.

"She looked like a little sausage." Taylor said to Brooke who couldn't stop laughing when she imagined Haley inside a sleeping bag.

"Oh, shut up." Haley said annoyed but then gave Taylor a smirk. "I've never slept with my teacher."

"Haley!" Taylor yelled embarrassed.

"I take that as a yes." Brooke said with a grin.

"Hell yeah." Haley said.

"Oh, it's so on!" Taylor said. "I've never cried because of getting an A- from a test!"

"I've never cried _of joy_ because of getting an A- from a test!"

"I've never dated someone in the marching band!"

"I've never dated a convict!"

"I've never volunteered for extra homework because 'it's fun'!"

"I've never thought that Russia was a continent!"

"I've never accidentally died my hair purple!"

"I've never been _the one_ to die someone's hair purple!"

"That was an accident!"

"You chose the color!"

Haley and Taylor looked at each other with glares before they finally realized the scene they were making. Five cameras were pointing at them from different angles while both Skills and Nathan were trying their best to keep their partners on the pole.

"So..." Haley started apologetically.

"I um..." Taylor said in the same voice.

They both turned to look at Chris who had raised his hand in the air.

"What?"

"I've also dated someone in the marching band."

"I'm sure you have." Taylor said with a grin which made Haley laugh.

"Poor girl..." Shelley mumbled which made everyone laugh.

"I'm sorry I told everyone about Mr. Robertson." Haley said to Taylor.

"I'm sorry I said you looked like a sausage." Taylor said.

"Air five?" Haley asked holding her hand in the air.

"Air five." Taylor said and they both pretended to high five each other.

"You guys are so lame." Rachel said.

"Oh, shut up whore." Taylor said bored.

"What did you call me?" Rachel asked waving her finger in a threatening matter.

"Nothing you haven't heard before. You're a whore." Taylor said with a sweet smile.

"Bitch, I'm gonna kick your ass once this challenge is over."

"Bring it!" Taylor yelled.

"Oh, I will." Rachel said.

"You're getting us kicked out." Lucas said.

"Shut up, Lucas." Rachel said.

"That's not a very nice way to talk to your team mate." Brooke said tauntingly.

"Oh, I totally agree, Brooke." Taylor said and they both smirked at Rachel who was so angry you could practically see steam coming out of her ears.

"I mean, could you imagine me being like that to you?" Brooke asked from Chase.

"I'm not getting involved in this." He muttered.

"Me neither." Skills said to Taylor who was about to ask him the same.

"Wimps." Brooke said and Taylor made an agreeing sound.

A silence filled the night again.

The more time passed by, the more determined people became that they would catch pneumonia and probably die. The ones with the wet clothes were starting to lose the feel of their toes and legs. Things weren't much better for the ones with the dry clothes either. The freezing cold was starting to take its toll on everyone.

The sounds of clattering teeth and shivering bodies filled the night as each couple tried their best to stay positive. The groups were hugging each other, rubbing their hands to keep the other warm. All except for Nathan and Haley whose backs were still facing the other. It was really a wonder that they were still on the pole.

Skills rubbed his hands on Taylor's arms, trying to keep both of them warm. He suddenly started to laugh out loud.

"What?" Taylor asked.

"I just realized that if we ever get married and you decide to take my last name, you'll be Taylor Taylor."

Taylor looked at the laughing boy like he was crazy but then started to also laugh hysterically. Apparently the freezing weather was starting to make an impact on them, Haley decided.

"6 hours." TJ yelled from the beach.

Taylor and Skills' laughter quickly changed into miserable groans.

"Alright, this is ridiculous." Gigi said.

"I know. I can't feel my toes anymore." Shelley whined.

"My teeth are clattering so hard that I'm pretty sure they're gonna fall off soon." Anna said.

"Jimmy, I'm sorry but I can't do this anymore." She said with teary eyes to Jimmy.

"I understand." He said in a shivery voice. "Let's go."

There was a huge splash when Jimmy and Gigi jumped in the water.

"Do you think we should too?" Anna asked from Jake.

"If you want to we can." He said.

Anna turned to look at her friend Shelley.

"Shel? What do you think?" Anna asked.

Shelley looked at Anna and then at Chris who was singing Rod Stewart's "Da ya think I'm sexy?" for the 10th time to her. Without a second thought, Shelley pushed the unexpecting Chris into the water. With a satisfied smirk Shelley turned to look at Anna again.

"Yeah, let's jump off. Yeehaa!" Shelley said while jumping in the water.

"You doing ok, Mouth?" Peyton asked her body shaking furiously.

"Yes. Maybe. No. You?"

"Not so well." She confessed in a shivery voice.

"Wanna jump off?" Mouth asked.

"I think I'm shaking so much that the pole will fall down soon." She said.

"Come on, let's go." Mouth said and grabbed Peyton's hand as they jumped off.

Soon after Jake and Anna along with Bevin and Tim jumped off, leaving only 4 teams left: Haley & Nathan, Rachel & Lucas, Taylor and Skills and Brooke & Chase.

Haley looked jealously towards the beach where everyone was sitting, wrapped in warm blankets drinking hot chocolate and tea that the crew had made for them. She felt another wave of coldness shake her body.

"Hales? You ok there?" Taylor asked with a worried voice from Haley.

"Just peachy." She whispered through her clattering teeth.

"Don't let yourself get sick." Taylor said in her big-sister voice.

"I won't." She whispered.

"You better not." Taylor said looking at Haley with a stern look.

After few seconds of looking at Taylor, Haley turned around slowly to face Nathan.

"Nathan?" Haley asked.

"Don't even start, Haley." He snapped keeping his back towards her.

"It's really cold." She said.

"We're not jumping off." He said while shivering but being determined not to jump off until they were the only team left.

"Nathan, stop being a dick to my sister." Taylor snapped.

"Taylor, it's ok. I can handle this." Haley said.

"We're not jumping off." Nathan said finally turning around to face him.

"I can't stay here much longer." Haley said.

"Well, you're just gonna have to." He said glaring at her.

"You know, you can be such an asshole." Haley said annoyed.

"Sorry for trying to win 200 grand for us." Nathan said frustrated.

"For what prize? Our health?" she asked.

"Don't be so melodramatic." Nathan said rolling his eyes.

"We've been standing on this stupid pole for over 6 hours!" Haley yelled. "Do those teams look like they're gonna get off anytime soon?" she yelled while pointing at three remaining teams that were all cold, but certainly not at the point where Haley was.

"I don't care! We're not getting off!"

"Yes, we are!" she yelled and prepared to jump off.

"Haley, don't jum- Goddammit!" Nathan yelled when he saw Haley diving in the water.

With an annoyed huff he jumped also in the water.

"You just totally screwed us!" Nathan yelled while swimming next to Haley towards the beach.

"Oh, don't be an idiot." Haley whispered. "Look at the groups that are left." Haley said.

Nathan glared at her but turned to look at the three groups anyways.

"Yeah, so?" Nathan asked.

"There's my sister's team, your brother's team and Brooke & Chase." Haley said.

"So?"

"Jeez, think Nathan! My sister and your brother won't choose us for the Elimination and I highly doubt that Brooke or Chase will either." She said.

Nathan looked at her annoyed when she realized she was right.

"Still, this is the last time we give up." Nathan said in a stubborn voice.

"Whatever." Haley said once they reached the beach.

They both ran out of the water and excepted the warm blankets and towels gladly.¨

"Good job guys." Jake said to Nathan and Haley once they were out of the water.

"Thanks, you too." Haley said.

"So, who do you think is gonna win?" Anna asked while looking at the three remaining groups.

"I think it's gonna be between Taylor & Skills and Brooke & Chase. Rachel's not gonna last much longer. Look at how much she's shaking." Tim said while looking at Rachel whose body was shaking so hard, it made the whole pole move.

Few minutes later Rachel and Lucas jumped off as expected.

"Now, it's up to those two..." Haley said, secretly hoping her sister and Chase would win.

"And then there were two... or four, whatever." Taylor said looking at her partner Skills and their competing team, Brooke and Chase. They were the two teams still left standing on their poles.

"Exactly." Brooke said.

"Look, the way I see it, we're gonna stay here for another 6 hours if we don't make a deal." Taylor said.

"What are you suggesting?" Brooke asked.

"If you two step down, we promise not to send you to Elimination." Taylor said.

Brooke turned to look at Chase for his opinion.

"It's a good deal..." Brooke whispered to Chase.

"We're not stepping down." Chase whispered.

"Think about it." Brooke whispered. "I don't think they're gonna screw us over. And if they win, they're gonna have to send two groups to Elimination. They're gonna piss off a lot of people. They're gonna be the bad guys and all the attention from us will be gone." Brooke whispered.

"Ok, that does make sense." Chase said and thought about it for a second. "Do you really think they're not gonna screw us up?"

"Yeah, I do." Brooke said.

"Ok, let's do it." he said and turned to look at Taylor and Skills. "Alright, you've got yourself a deal."

"Great!" Taylor said.

"On one condition." Brooke said.

"What is it?" Skills asked.

"In addition to us being safe, you'll also promise not to send my sister or Chase's friend to Elimination." Brooke said.

Taylor and Skills turned to look at each other for a second.

"You're buddies with Jake, right?" Skills asked from Chase who nodded his head.

"And he's partnered with Anna, right?" Taylor asked and Chase nodded again.

Taylor and Skills whispered to each other for few seconds before turning to look at Brooke and Chase.

"Yeah, we promise not to send you two, Nathan and Haley or Jake and Anna to Elimination." Taylor said.

"Alright." Brooke said and turned to look at Chase. "Ready to jump the hell off of this pole?"

"Hell yeah!" he said and grabbed her hand before jumping in the water with her.

"We just won!" Taylor yelled and hugged Skills even tighter.

"You ready to follow them?" Skills asked.

"Actually, let's figure out now who we're gonna send to Elimination." Taylor said. "We're probably not gonna have any time once we get to the beach."

"Any ideas?" Skills asked.

"I don't know... I really wanna send Rachel." Taylor said. "But it wouldn't be fair to Lucas who has to partnered up with that skank."

"We should do it as fair as possible so we don't wanna piss off anyone." Skills said. "Who were the first two teams to jump off after Junk and Erica fell?"

"First were Gigi and Jimmy and then Shelley and Chris." Taylor said.

"Are you okay with those groups?" Skills asked.

"Sure. Sounds good." She said. "Come on, let's get the hell out of here."

They both jumped in the water and swam to the beach where they were greeted by applause and few whistles.

"Way to go, sis!" Haley said with a smile.

"Taylor, Skills, congrats." TJ said and handed them two blankets.

"Thank you very much." Taylor said with a grin.

"But now to more serious things. Since you two won this challenge you are immune from the Elimination. Normally, the Voting would take place in few days where the team with the most votes would be sent also to Elimination. But as I said before, today we do this differently. You will now choose two teams that will go straight to Elimination. No voting, no deliberation. So, which two groups have you chosen?"

"Well, we figured that the only way to do this fairly is to send the two teams that did the worst." Taylor said apologetically.

"Gigi & Jimmy, Shelley & Chris. We're so sorry." Skills said.

"Okay, you've chosen Gigi and Jimmy against Shelley and Chris. The losing team will head home with Erica and Junk."

"What's the Elimination?" Gigi asked.

TJ held nine big, golden coins in his hand and showed them to the cast.

"See these nine coins? Every coin has a certain challenge written on it. The team that lost the challenge will pick one coin from the bag. Which ever challenge is written on it, will be the one they will do. There are two Free Pass coins here. If you pick it up, there will be no Elimination that week and both teams are safe.

"Normally the team that lost the challenge would pick the coin but since there was no Voting tonight, Taylor and Skills will do the honor." TJ said and held the bag open towards the couple.

"You can do it..." Skills told Taylor.

"Sure..." she said and put her hand inside the bag and grabbed a random coin from there.

She took the coin out and flipped it over so she could see the carvings on it. "Exile."

"You'll be competing tonight in Exile. The rest of you will head back to the house."

"So, we're not allowed to watch?" Taylor asked.

"Nope, not today. Both teams will come back after the Elimination. Losing team will have 15 minutes to pack their stuff and leave." TJ said.

"Good luck." Haley said to both teams as they were guided back to the vans. "So what kind of challenges do they usually have in Elimination?"

"Pretty much anything possible." Taylor said. "Puzzles, running, climbing a rope, tug a war, lifting stuff, quizzes, anything you can imagine."

"Gotcha." Haley said and sat down next to Taylor in the van and sighed as she saw Nathan and Lucas coming to the same van. Nathan sat opposite of Haley and crossed his arms in annoyance. Haley mimicked the action and glared at him, daring him to say anything.

The ride went surprisingly smoothly, both Nathan and Haley deciding not to say anything to each other. When they were almost at the house, Nathan couldn't hold his tongue anymore.

"You sucked tonight, Haley." Nathan hissed.

"We didn't lose or get sent to Elimination, so shut up." Haley said annoyed.

"You need to step it up, Haley." Nathan said seriously.

"And you need to leave me the fuck alone." She snapped and noticed with satisfaction that they had just arrived to the house.

She jumped out of the van and waited for Taylor, Brooke and Peyton to get out also.

"Now what?" Brooke asked.

"It's 4 am." Haley said. "I don't know about you but I'm going to bed."

"Me too." Peyton said yawning.

"I don't know. I kinda wanna stay awake to see which team wins." Brooke said.

"I'll keep you company." Taylor said.

"Wake us up when they get back here, ok?" Haley said. She and Peyton said their goodnights as they made their way to their room.

Changing into pyjamas, Haley buried herself under the covers, enjoying the warmth it gave her. It was the first time in over 6 hours when she felt like she wouldn't freeze to death and that she would actually make it to the next day.

Physically sore and cold, mentally exhausted and tired, Haley gave herself a mental pat on the shoulder for surviving the first day. With a sick feeling in her stomach, she realized that the challenges would not get any easier.

Before letting exhaustion take over her, she wondered if she'd be able to repeat the same for the next 10 weeks.

* * *

So, there you go with chappie 2. :) Was it good? Bad? What would you change? Don't forget to review. :)

-Fes-


	4. Chapter 3: The Morning After

AN: Hey everyone! First of all: I'M SO SORRY for the delay in updating and unfortunately this one's a short one as well. Oh well, less rambling more writing. :) Since my last update, a lot has happened: Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, Happy Valentine's and Happy 20th b-day to the best baby brother on earth. This one's for you, as they all are. ;)

* * *

Quote of the day: Veronica Mars

Troy: "I'm Troy, by the way."

Veronica: "I'm Veronica."

Troy: "Really? Veronica. Okay, yeah, that does make a lot more sense."

Veronica: "Makes more sense how?"

Troy: "Ah, it's nothing. I just should never listen to those guys. I mean, really, who names their daughter Trampy McBitch?"

* * *

Chapter 3. The Morning After.

Week 1.

_So, the first day on the show was pretty hectic for me. We were sent to our gorgeous house, we got to know each other, though some people I would've preferred never to get to know. Then we suddenly found out that our first challenge would start in like 15 minutes. _

_Then to make matters worse, we were told that we'd be changing the teams for the remainder of the game. I was partnered up with the asshole himself, Nathan._

* * *

_The start of the first day was awesome for me. There I was, in hot and sexy Mexico with my brother. We came to this gorgeous house with some pretty hot women... Suddenly we're already sent to our challenge where we found out that I wouldn't be competing with Luke. No, not at all. _

_By sheer bad luck (God must really hate me) I got partnered with Haley. The only girl in the house that I can't stand._

_Thanks to Haley's total lack of competitiveness we sucked at the challenge. Luckily Taylor and Skills who won, saved our butts from Elimination. We got back to the house and luckily, being the weak, little girl Haley is, she went straight to bed. _

_I partied with the rest of the cast, flirted with the girls and didn't go to bed until like 8 am. Next morning, even though I tried my best to avoid her, of course I had to run into the Queen Bee-atch herself. Can't a guy get a frigging break!_

Day 2

Haley woke up to a banging headache and a stuffy nose. Opening her eyes, she realized she was still buried under her blankets. Throwing the blanket to the side she tried to adjust to the sudden light as best as possible. Finally being able to see something, she flinched startled when she saw a camera right in front of her face.

She stared at the camera man and the guy who held the microphone for a second.

"Morning, fellas." She mumbled in a croggy voice while wondering for the millionth time why she had agreed to take part in a reality show.

Haley glanced at the clock on the wall. Her eyes flew wide open when she realized it was almost 3 pm. She had slept almost 12 hours.

The memories of the previous day and night filled her mind. How Taylor and she had flown to Mexico, how they'd been transported to their resort, how they had unpacked and suddenly gotten the message that their first challenge would take place immediately.

But the most vivid memory was the moment when TJ Lavin, the host, had announced that they'd be changing the teams. Not only couldn't Haley compete with her sister Taylor, but she had to partner up with the only person she couldn't stand, Nathan.

Though they hadn't lost the pole standing challenge and weren't even sent to Elimination, they had still done poorly. And Haley knew that she was partly to blame. At the thought of Elimination, she wondered which team had lost, Gigi and Jimmy's or Chris and Shelley's.

She stood up and took support from the wall when she felt dizzy. She then remembered that she hadn't eaten in almost 24 hours. Changing her pyjamas to a pair of jean shorts and a tank top, she tied her hair in a messy bun while slipping into a pair of flip flops. She looked at herself in the mirror and scoffed loudly when she saw the messy hair and the dark circles under her eyes.

"There goes that image..." Haley mumbled to herself and laughed a bit when she realized that it was only the second day and she already couldn't care less about her appearances.

She exited the room and started to head downstairs to the kitchen. Feeling the banging head ache and the sore throat, Haley realized she had gotten a cold the previous night when standing 6 hours in a freezing weather and wet bikinis.

She entered the empty kitchen and started to go through the cabinets and the fridge for food. Clapping her hands enthusiastically, she spotted the shiny, brand new coffee maker in the corner. Leaving the fridge door open, she quickly went to make herself a fresh pot.

After getting her coffee, she poured some milk on her Lucky Charms and started to go through the cabinets and drawers for a spoon. After finding one she sat on a bar stool by the counter and started to eat her cereal in silence. After a few minutes she looked up when she heard someone open the back door that led outside, to the backyard.

Her eyes narrowed in anger as she found a shirtless, wet Nathan enter the room. He had a pair of long swimming shorts on and he was dripping wet. Haley figured he must've been swimming in the pool.

The cameraman who had been following Haley's morning rituals with a bored look suddenly perked up and took a better position so he could shoot the scene between Nathan and Haley. All the cameramen had been instructed to film all the conversations between Nathan and Haley because it was the best possible drama for the TV.

Though Haley couldn't deny that Nathan was extremely hot and very easy on the eyes, the annoyance she felt towards him conquered her mind more. She tore her eyes off of his wet, smoking body to glare him.

Nathan stopped in his tracks when he saw her and gave her a dirty glare. They both glared at each other for few seconds, thinking whether they should say something or keep their mouths shut. Haley still remembered Nathan insulting her the previous night and Nathan couldn't forget the fact that Haley had given up the challenge.

Without saying a word, Nathan walked past her and "accidentally" bumped his shoulder against hers so that the spoon full of cereal she was about to eat, hit her in the cheek instead and fell on her lap. She closed her eyes and took in a deep, annoyed breath. _Thou shall not kill stupid, little boys_,Haley said over and over in her head.

"Asshole." Haley muttered under her breath as Nathan opened the fridge with a wide smirk and took a Gatorade out.

He opened the cap and took a big swig while walking back towards the door. When he walked past Haley, she "accidentally" stretched her legs to trip him. He stumbled and the Gatorade he had been drinking, was now dripping down his chest. Nathan sighed deeply in annoyance and turned to glare at Haley who was busy eating her cereal with an innocent look.

"Bitch." He muttered and wiped the sticky liquid from his chest while walking away, leaving a grinning Haley by herself.

After finishing her cereal she started to look for a bottle of Advil or Tylenol but soon came to the conclusion that there were none. Rubbing her temples irritated, she poured some coffee into a mug and walked outside to find her sister.

"Yo, Haley! Get your skinny ass here!" Brooke yelled once she spotted Haley coming from the kitchen.

Haley looked up and saw Brooke, Peyton and Taylor tanning on the sun chairs by the pool.

"Morning!" Haley said to the girls.

"Hey, Haley." Peyton said. "Did you wake up only now?"

"Yeah, I think I got a cold last night." She said sipping her coffee.

"That sucks." Brooke said sympathetically.

"You should go see a doctor." Peyton said with a worried voice.

"No, that's not necessary or anything." Taylor said.

"But she's sick." Peyton said confused. "She needs to get healthy."

"Yeah, I'm just gonna get some painkillers. I couldn't find any from the house." Haley said looking at Taylor.

"You gotta take it easy for the next couple of days." Brooke said.

"Yeah, that's what I was planning on." Haley said changing the subject. "Oh my god, I almost forgot! Who lost the Elimination?"

"Gigi and Jimmy." Taylor said sadly. "They all came back at 6 am, packed their stuff and left around 6.30."

"So Gigi, Jimmy, Erica and Junk are gone and we're down to 8 teams." Haley said. "Damn, I really wanted to be up when they left. Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I figured you needed your sleep." Taylor said.

"Yeah, I guess so... So, I'm gonna try and score me some painkillers. Later girls."

"Later, Hales." Brooke said and watched Haley walk away.

"So, who wants to go flirt with the shirtless guys and-?"

"Me!" Brooke yelled and got up before Taylor had even finished her sentence.

"Wow, excited much?" Taylor asked from Peyton when Brooke was already walking towards the beach.

"Try horny much." Peyton muttered while following her friend with a laughing Taylor behind her.

* * *

Few hours later Haley joined the group of people by the pool. Brooke, Peyton and Taylor were hanging out with Nathan, Lucas, Chase and Jake. Rachel and Bevin were tanning near them while Anna and Shelley had been swimming in the ocean for the past hour when they had realized that Chris was afraid of water and wouldn't follow them there. So, he hung out on the beach with Tim and Mouth.

"Hey, what took you so long?" Brooke asked once Haley flopped down on the chair next to Taylor.

"Oh, I just took a long nap after getting some painkillers. I guess I still have jet lag or something." Haley said.

"So, what did the doctors say?" Taylor asked with a worried voice.

"Nothing special. Got the flu, have to rest, take it easy, yada yada yada." Haley said.

"Wait, now you're sick?" Nathan asked annoyed. "That's great. Just perfect."

"It's just the flu, you ass." Haley said. "It's not the end of the world."

"Just be healthy by the next challenge." Nathan said.

"I would be touched by your concern, but knowing that everything you say is meant as an insult to me, I won't even bother." Haley snapped.

"Change of topic." Taylor announced.

"Yes, please." Jake said.

"Thank god." Peyton muttered.

"Is that Steinbeck?" Lucas asked when he noticed the book Haley was holding.

"Yeah, you read him?" she asked.

"Are you kidding me? He's my favourite writer!" Lucas said excited. "_Of Mice and Men_ was one of the first books I read."

"Did you know that he also attended Stanford?" Haley asked happily. "But I always preferred his later works, like _East of Eden_ and _The Winter-_"

"_-of Our Discontent_." Lucas finished for Haley.

They looked at each other with smiles before bursting out laughing.

"So, did you happen to bring a book or two with you?" Lucas asked his fingers crossed.

"A book or a two?" Taylor asked with a scoff. "Try a whole library."

"I might've brought a few." Haley said with a smile.

"Are you serious?" Lucas asked not believing his luck. "Dude, you just became my best friend!"

"Hey!" Nathan said smiling. "I'm your brother. Shouldn't I be at the top of that list?"

"What was it that you said when I wanted to bring books with me?" Lucas asked.

"That they're heavy, smelly and for geeks?" Nathan said remembering his words from few weeks earlier.

"Exactly." Lucas said with a dry voice. "Haley stays my favorite."

"Thank you very much." Haley said with a grin and stuck her tongue at Nathan before turning to look at Lucas again. "So, who was your favorite character on _Of Mice and Men_?"

The rest of the group looked at them in boredom as they discussed their favorite books, authors and characters.

"Who wants to start drinking?" Taylor asked and smiled when several hands shot in the air. "Perfect."

* * *

So, we just hang out the rest of the day, getting to know each other. It was all pretty normal chatting but game-wize it got very interesting when later that day Peyton, Brooke, Taylor and I were left alone...

"…and Peyton decided to change her beautiful angel costume to this thing that looked like the angel of death. Seriously, she even had the whole black lipstick and dark eye shadow thing going on." Brooke finished explaining as the rest laughed out loud.

Brooke, Peyton, Haley and Taylor had moved inside to the kitchen to drink and gossip.

"So, what made you decide to apply for this show?" Peyton asked.

"Money." Haley and Taylor said at the same time.

"Any specific need?" Brooke asked.

Taylor and Haley looked at each quickly.

"I need to pay off of my college debt." Haley said.

"That makes sense." Brooke said.

"So!" Taylor said wanting to change the subject. "What do you think of the rest of the cast?"

"I know for sure that us four are gonna get along the best." Peyton said.

"I totally agree." Taylor said.

"Yeah, I've been thinking..." Brooke said.

"Oh, no." Peyton said and ducked down when Brooke almost smacked her on her arm. "Kidding, kidding. What have you been thinking, Brooke?"

"So, the three best teams are gonna win money. I know that it's gonna get really ugly when we start voting groups and all, so I think that us four should stick together. There are eight groups left. If us four and our partners always vote together, the numbers are in our favor. So, what do you think?"

Taylor turned to look at Haley with raised eyebrows. After few seconds of thinking Haley nodded her head slightly. Taylor turned to look at Brooke and Peyton with a grin.

"We think you're a genius." Taylor said.

"But we need to make sure no one knows about this." Haley said. "Alliances always get broken. Look what happened to Gigi, Erica, Junk and Jimmy."

"She's right." Taylor said. "And remember the Ryan-Melinda-Wes-Johanna alliance on the Fresh Meat season?"

"I know!" Brooke said remembering it too. "The others broke the Austin group so fast!"

"I know!" Taylor said and turned to look at Peyton and Haley to agree.

"I _so_ don't know what you're talking about." Peyton said.

"I'm right there with you." Haley said with a smile. "But I think it just means that we gotta keep quiet about us four."

"True..." Peyton said.

"And I think that we shouldn't tell our partners either." Haley said.

"What? Why?" Brooke asked.

"Because then they want to include their friends to the alliance. If I tell Nathan, he wants to have Luke in it. If you tell Chase, he wants to have Jake, etc." Haley said. "There are already four groups from eight involved. We can't have more because the more there are, the bigger the chances are that someone will screw us over."

"You're right." Peyton said. "But how can we make sure our partners vote with us if they don't know about the plan?"

"That's the tough part." Taylor said. "Do what you gotta do. Manipulate, flirt, whatever it takes."

"Wow, look who's getting into game-mode." Haley said laughing which made Taylor laugh back.

"I'm so glad you're on my side." Peyton said.

"It shouldn't be too hard though." Haley said after thinking it through. She then looked at Brooke. "You have Chase wrapped around your little finger already."

"What about Skills, Mouth and Nathan?" Brooke asked.

"Skills and I get along really well so I don't think there's gonna be a problem. What about Mouth?" Taylor asked from Peyton.

"Mouth is smart. Very smart." Peyton said worried.

"But he's buddies with Skills so if we got Skills on our side, we have Mouth too." Haley said.

"What about Nathan? I mean, you two aren't exactly the best of buddies." Peyton said.

"I know but there's one thing that you have to take into consideration." Haley said and paused to look at everyone. "Nathan's dumb as a rock. And I'm not."

Haley grinned as all the girls burst out laughing.

"So, we've pretty much guaranteed our spots on final four." Taylor said with an excited voice.

Brooke looked around to make sure that no one saw them, except for the always present camera man and his mike-boy. Brooke then lifted her beer can in the air.

"A toast to the four of us." She said.

Peyton lifted her blue plastic cup, Taylor hers and Haley her cup of tea. Clinging their glasses together, all three girls whispered a 'whoop' and finished their drinks.

"Hales, why aren't you drinking?" Brooke asked.

"I'm sick so I'm gonna take it easy." She said.

"Aren't you only 20 anyways?" Peyton asked with a grin.

"We're in Mexico. Legal limit is 18." Haley said with a grin. "Besides, I'll be turning 21 in like a month."

"Oh, really." Brooke said excited. "Fan-fucking-tastic."

"Brooke, don't curse." Peyton said and nudged her head towards the camera right next to them.

"Oh, puh-leeze. I'm making sure the poor censors have a job." Brooke said.

"So, should we go make sure none of the other people make any alliances?" Taylor asked trying to look outside where most of the cast was.

"Yeah, let's go check out what everyone else is doing." Brooke said and they all got up.

On their way outside Haley tripped on the rug and fell face first against Taylor who had suddenly stopped.

"Ouch! My nose…" Haley whined.

Taylor turned to look at Haley and smiled when she saw her holding her nose with an irritated look.

"And the Clumsy-Haley is back." Taylor said with a grin.

"No need to remind me, Tay." Haley said poking her nose. "So, why aren't we moving?"

"See for yourself." Taylor said turning to face the back yard.

Haley stepped next to Taylor and as soon as she saw what the girls were looking at, she rolled her eyes.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me…" she mumbled while looking outside at the guys' shirtless basketball game.

Lucas, Nathan, Jake, Chase, Tim and Skills were all playing while Chris and Mouth kept company to Bevin, Rachel, Anna and Shelley who were watching the game.

"He's so fine… That Lucas guy…" Brooke said.

"Oh, I totally agree." Taylor said. "And his brother's not too bad either."

"And check out the frat brothers…" Brooke continued. "Chase is looking fine…"

"Girls…" Haley said with a smile and turned to look at Peyton. "At least, we're not here for the guys, right Peyton?"

Haley turned to look at Peyton who was looking at the guys with a very wide grin.

"Jake's looking good." Peyton chimed in. "Come on, let's go talk to them."

"_Et tu, Brute_?" Haley mumbled to herself while following the exited girls.

"So, what's the score?" Brooke asked with a flirty grin from the boys, ignoring Rachel as best as she could.

"Team Scott-Scott-Smith is winning 20-14." Nathan said proudly.

"Only because he playes dirty." Jake said with a laugh as Chase and Skills nodded their heads in agreement.

"Well, that's no fun." Taylor purred while giving Nathan a flirty grin.

"Who's hungry?" Skills asked.

"Dude, I'm starving." Tim said and turned to look at the girls with an innocent smile.

"If by that expecting look you mean that _we_-" Taylor said motioning at herself and the girls. "-should make _you_ dinner, think again."

"Man, I just wanted a sandwich." Tim muttered while leaving the court looking defeated.

"Unbelievable..." Taylor said while looking after Tim.

The rest of the night was spent talking and hanging out with everyone. When it got late and cold outside everyone moved inside the house. Shelley, Anna, Peyton, Lucas and Jake hung out with Haley in the living room, talking about their studies and life while Brooke, Bevin, Taylor and Rachel were lounging in the den where the rest of the guys were playing pool.

As the week went by people got to know each other better and better. Haley klicked the best with Peyton, Brooke, Taylor and Lucas while Nathan hung out the most with the guys and some of the girls. Throughout the week they did their best to avoid each other and they mostly succeeded in it. As long as they didn't talk or spend any time with each, they'd be fine.

But that would all change with the next challenge.

* * *

AN: So, any thoughts? I know it's not as long as my previous chapters but I promise to update the next one faster. Peace out.

XOXO

Fes


	5. Chapter 4: Strategizing

AN: Hey, everyone! So, here's chapter 4. Hope you enjoy, don't forget to let me know what you think of it. :)

Disclaimer: Yeah, I'm an unemployed college student who's supposed to write her final thesis instead this story. Don't own a damn.

* * *

Quote of the day: Scrubs

Elliot (in a disgusted voice after being asked out by 'The Todd'):

"No! No, Todd, I don't. But I don't want you to think it's because I just broke up with someone, or that I'm a lesbian, or because I want to 'preserve our friendship.' It's because I find you so creepy I think you should have to walk around with a bell around your neck."

* * *

**Chapter 4. Strategizing.**

Week 2.

_So, the first week went by fast for everyone. The challenge, getting to know each other and trying to get the drift of things pretty much guaranteed that we were always busy. Nathan and I did our best to avoid each other which turned out to be surprisingly easy for both of us._

_I hung out mostly with Brooke, Peyton, Taylor and Lucas whereas Nathan was with Chase, Jake, Tim and the ever-present Rachel who pretty much all the girls hate. She's become quite the little flirt. _

_Anna, Shelley, Chris, Mouth, Bevin and Skills were always somewhere between those groups. I get along pretty much with everyone except for Nathan., Chris and Rachel. But what goes to the rest of the group, we get along nicely. _

_Shelley and I have bonded a lot ever since we realized that we're basically in the same situation. What situation, you ask? The situation where you hate your team member. She can't stand Chris, I can't stand Nathan. We've already had countless 'I hate him so much' conversations._

_But even though we all got along very nicely, this one conversation the girls had gave me the sense that it may not stay nice and peaceful forever. Here's what happened..._

"Ugh, this bikini is so uncomfortable." Brooke muttered while trying to arrange the small, purple bikini so it would be as comfortable as possible.

Brooke, Taylor, Peyton, Haley, Anna and Shelley were lying on the beach chairs in the backyard, perfecting their tans.

Most of the guys were playing basketball and swimming in the pool and the rest were down by the beach.

"So, Shelley." Haley said. "Where's Chris? He hasn't harassed you today nearly as much as normally."

"Ugh, don't even mention him." Shelley said annoyed. "I told him that if he wouldn't talk to me for the whole day, I'd give him a massage tomorrow morning." She said.

"And are you gonna do it?" Brooke asked.

"Hell no." she said with a grin. "I know he's gonna be so annoying tomorrow when he finds out but at least I'll have today to enjoy. What about Nathan?" Shelley asked from Haley who was reading a book.

"We've been avoiding each other like plague. I don't think we've said a single word in almost a week." Haley said and then grinned. "It's so awesome."

"You should try to get along with him." Taylor said pushing her sunglasses on her forehead so she could look at Haley.

"And why the hell should I do that?" Haley asked with a deep, bored sigh.

"He's not as bad as you think, Haley. He's actually pretty funny." Taylor said.

"Just because you like to flirt with most of the guys here, doesn't mean I have to." Haley said.

"I don't flirt with everyone." Taylor said and looked at Brooke when she scoffed. "Do I?"

"Yeah, you kinda do." Brooke said. "You flirt a lot with Nathan."

"And Jake." Peyton said with a hint of annoyance which didn't go unnoticed by the girls.

"And Lucas." Brooke added solemnly under her breath and Peyton nodded her head in agreement.

"And didn't you give a massage to Skills yesterday?" Haley asked.

"Skills is my team mate! And we're absolutely nothing but friends."

"As opposed to all the other guys?" Anna asked with a grin.

"Okay, so I think that Nathan and Lucas are hot. But I'm so not the only one there." Taylor said looking at Brooke.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"You totally like Lucas." Taylor said. "And don't think we haven't noticed you giggling with Chase also."

"Okay, I like to flirt." Brooke said. "But I'm so not the worst." She said and turned to look at Rachel who was in the pool flirting heavily with Lucas.

"Rachel's the worst." Peyton agreed.

"Slut..." Brooke mumbled under her breath and turned to look at the girls.

"So, let me get this straight." Anna said with a grin. "Peyton likes Lucas and Jake. Brooke likes Lucas and Chase. Taylor likes Lucas and Nathan. And Rachel obviously likes everyone, including her partner Lucas."

"Yep, that's pretty much it." Haley said with a grin.

"So, there are four girls interested in Lucas." Anna said with a grin.

Taylor, Brooke and Peyton all stared at each other with unreadable expressions before lying back on the sun chairs, pulling their sun glasses from their foreheads with frowns, without saying anything to each other.

"Awkward..." Haley muttered under her breath before going back to her book and being extremely glad she didn't have a crush on Lucas.

* * *

It was Wednesday night of the second week when they finally got the next clue about their second challenge.

"Newbies, hopefully you've enjoyed your time so far in Mexico. Next challenge will take place tomorrow morning. Bring a swimsuit and be ready to leave by 8 am."

"That's all that it said?" Taylor asked from Skills who had read the message. "No clues or anything?"

"Nope, that's it." Skills said while putting the cell phone away.

"That's a bummer." Chase said while they all started to pile out of the den.

"It's not like we'd be able to do anything even if we'd know about the challenge." Brooke said.

"Yeah, I know." Haley said and looked at Nathan who was drinking beer. "You might wanna stop drinking before you get drunk."

"Why don't you mind your own business like we've been doing for the past week?" Nathan said and finished the beer just to spite her while walking towards the kitchen to get a new one.

"It _is _my business if you're too hung over and fucked up to not swim tomorrow. And when you feel like you just can't take another stroke, I'm not gonna help you. Trust me, I _will _let you drown." Haley said following him.

"Based on your performance last week, it won't matter if I'm drinking _during_ the challenge, you're still the weaker one. So, maybe you should concentrate on your own game instead mine." He said opening the can of beer and leaving a furious Haley by herself.

She looked at the closed door in annoyance and muffled an angry scream with her hand. She looked up to see an annoyed Shelley come in. They both stared at each other's annoyed and angry looks.

"Nathan?" Shelley asked.

"Chris?" Haley asked.

They both nodded their heads and gave each other sympathetic looks.

"I just can't stand Nathan! You know, he's getting wasted as we speak just to spite me." Haley said.

"Chris has been harassing me for 9 days straight now. He's rude and obnoxious. He has the worst sense of humor and absolutely no social skills and to top of it all, he's so skinny that I'm pretty sure I'm physically stronger than him." Shelley said.

"Good luck tomorrow." Haley said starting to leave. "I'm gonna head to bed so at least I'll be ready for a challenge."

"Good night, Haley."

"You too."

* * *

"Welcome to the second challenge, Newbies!" TJ Lavin announced.

The groups had just piled out of the two minivans and were lined up next to their respective team mates. They were all looking towards the water where there were several different flags sticking from the water.

"As you know, this challenge requires swimming." TJ started. "As you can see, there are 4 flags in the water, all about 15 feet from the other, furthest flag being about 70 feet from the shore. Your task is to swim to the first flag, dive under water and collect a bag of puzzle pieces and then swim back to the shore with them. Then you will swim to the second flag, dive, get the bag and swim back to the shore. Repeat the same with the third and fourth flag. When you have dived for the fourth bag of puzzles you also take the fourth flag and swim back to the shore. Untie the bags of puzzle pieces and complete the puzzle. If done correctly, the flag will fit in the hole in the puzzle. Fastest team to finish, wins. Last team will be sent to Elimination." TJ said. "There is one catch though."

Everyone groaned and waited for him to reveal it.

"While doing this, you will be linked to your team member with a 5-foot-rope." TJ said. "So, you'll only be as fast as your slower swimmer is."

"Just try not to drown." Nathan hissed at Haley.

"Just try not to drown me." She hissed back.

"Can't promise anything." He said and turned to look at TJ again.

"Since Taylor and Skills won the last challenge, they will decide the order in which you'll compete." He said and gave a pen and a paper that had the numbers from 1 to 8. "You have 10 minutes."

"Thanks." Taylor said while going to the side with Skills to talk.

"So, any ideas?" Skills asked. "I don't think there's any real strategy except to swim as fast as possible."

"I agree but we should still go last to see how fast the other teams do." Taylor said.

"Yeah, I agree. We can always push a few seconds better if we know how fast the others have been."

"So, we go last." Taylor said while writing their names after the number eight which was at the bottom of the paper.

"We should put my friend's and your sister's teams sixth and seventh." Skills said.

"Yeah, I'll put Haley and Nathan sixth and Mouth and Peyton seventh. I don't really think it matters at that point which go first." Taylor said while filling the numbers. "Who do we put first?"

"Who can we afford to piss off? Who has no ties to us?" Skills asked.

"I really like Lucas but Rachel is pretty much the only person who I don't like. And it's no secret to her."

"Yeah, let's put Lucas and Rachel first." Skills said. "And Chris second! I can't stand that guy."

"I agree... Poor Shelley." Taylor said while writing their names after number. "Let's put Bevin and Tim third."

"Sure. And Anna and Jake fourth."

"So it leaves Brooke and Chase fifth." Taylor finished writing the names down and then showed it to Skills. "Are we happy with this?"

"Yeah, looks good." He said after taking a quick look at it.

"Ok, let's head back." She said.

They walked back to the waiting group and handed the list to TJ.

"First group, Rachel and Lucas." TJ read out loud.

"You bitch." Rachel muttered to Taylor.

"Takes one to know one." Taylor shot back.

"Second group, Shelley and Chris." TJ read.

"It was because of him, not you." Taylor whispered to Shelley who nodded her head in understanding.

"Third are Bevin and Tim, fourth Anna and Jake, fifth Brooke and Chase, sixth Haley and Nathan, seventh Peyton and Mouth. And last group is Taylor and Skills." TJ finished. "So, first group, let's go."

They all took a seat on the beach, next to their team mates. Haley and Nathan looked at each other and then at everyone else to see if they could join any group. When they both noticed that the other ones clearly wanted to strategize with their team mates, the sighed and sat down on the beach, next to each other.

They watched in silence as Rachel and Lucas started the challenge. As Taylor and Skills had predicted, there wasn't much strategy needed except to swim as fast as possible. Both Rachel and Lucas were pretty good swimmers and divers. Haley watched with a worried look when Lucas finished the puzzle fast. Even though they were the first team to start, they survived the challenge without any bigger problems.

"Yeah!" Nathan yelled to Lucas and clapped his hands when he and Rachel got back.

"Think we did good?" Lucas asked from an out-of-breath Rachel.

"Yeah, I think so." She said and high-fived Lucas as they walked back to the beach.

Lucas sat down between Nathan and Haley while Rachel jogged to where Bevin was.

"So, was it tough?" Nathan asked from Lucas.

"Yeah, I felt like I couldn't get enough air in my lungs when I dove for the last time. I advice you to switch divers." He said.

"How was the puzzle?" Haley asked.

"Relatively simple. There were about 15 to 20 pieces that had the Real World/Road Rules logo and it spelled 'Newbies'. The flag fit in the middle of the puzzle." Lucas said.

They turned to watch Chris and Shelley start the challenge. Very soon they all found out that amongst all the qualities Chris Keller had, swimming skills were not one of them.

"They're out." Nathan said as he watched Shelley practically drag Chris with the rope as she swam back with the first bag of puzzles.

"Chris, pick it up!" Shelley yelled out-of-breath as she threw the bag on the beach and turned around to swim back before Chris had even gotten out of the water.

"Chris Keller is dog-paddling just fine!"

"Chris Keller will get his ass drown if he doesn't speed it up!" Shelley yelled while swimming towards the second flag, Chris tailing her.

In the end Shelley managed to get the puzzle pieces and drag Chris back to the beach where she collapsed out of breath and let Chris solve the puzzle which he did surprisingly fast. The death threats she yelled at him must've had some influence.

Bevin and Tim were next in turn. They were both good swimmers and finished the course very fast but it took them over 3 minutes to finish the puzzle, which screwed their changes of winning the challenge.

One after another the groups started and finished the challenge, some better some worse. Anna and Jake were one of the strongest teams along with Brooke and Chase. Mouth and Peyton were a bit slower swimmers but extremely fast with the puzzle.

"You ready?" Haley asked once she and Nathan were informed that they'd start soon. She took her shorts and top off to reveal a black two-piece swimming suit.

"You?" he asked while tearing his eyes off of her body and concentrating on the upcoming challenge.

"Ready as I'll ever be." She mumbled. "So, which one is gonna dive for the bags? And what about the flag?"

"Whoever gets there first." He said.

"Don't you think we should set up at least some sort of strategy?"

"Just concentrate on swimming and try not to slow us down too much." He snapped.

"Fine!" she said and fell silent, not wanting to fight with him anymore.

"Haley? Nathan? You guys ready?" TJ asked once the rope was attached around her left and his right ankle.

"Yeah." They both mumbled.

"Alright. Three, two, one, go!" he yelled and blew the whistle as Nathan and Haley sprinted to the water.

They dived at the same time and started the swim as fast as possible towards the first flag. Once they made it there Nathan immediately dove under water. Few seconds later he came with the first puzzle bag and started to swim back to the beach as fast as possible. Haley swam almost as fast as he did, trailing just few inches from Nathan.

By the time they came back with the second bag and started back for their third, she started to feel just how tough the challenge was physically.

"Don't give up, Haley." Nathan said once he realized Haley starting to slow down.

"Shut up..." she said out of breath while swimming as fast as possible.

He dove for the third bag and came back a while later with empty hands.

"What's wrong?" Haley asked.

Without answering Nathan dove back down after getting air in his lungs. About 15 seconds later he emerged to the surface with the bag.

"Go!" he yelled when Haley didn't immediately start towards the beach.

They swam back in silence. Haley had completely lost the track of time and she had no idea whether they had taken two minutes, five or fifteen so far.

She could feel every muscle in her body aching and it took more and more energy with each kick under water. Coughing some water out of her lungs, she tried to catch her breath as Nathan threw the small bag on the beach.

"Come on, Haley!" he yelled while diving back.

Not saying anything, Haley concentrated on moving her legs and hands as fast as possible. Trying her best to breathe deeply but avoid the water from getting in her mouth, she followed Nathan for what felt like the longest time, until they made it to the last flag.

Haley watched Nathan dove down. Few seconds later she felt the rope between their legs tighten. Not being able to take in much breath, she suddenly noticed that she was being pulled under water. Apparently the fourth puzzle bag was so deep that the 5-feet-rope wasn't enough, so instead both team members had to dive down.

Even though she could feel her panic level rising with each second, she tried to calm herself down. As soon as she felt Nathan swimming back up, she started kicking her legs furiously to make it to the surface. Gasping for air once she could feel it, she coughed loudly.

"Got it." Nathan said out of breath while clutching onto the bag of puzzles.

"Got the flag?" Haley asked between coughs.

"Let's go." Nathan said and started to swim back as fast as possible.

Haley's eyes, ears and mouth were full of the salty sea water. Her eyes were stinging and she felt her lungs tighten with each breath she took in. Her legs and hands felt like they weighed a thousand pounds and her head was starting to feel light because of the lack of air.

She closed her eyes because of keeping them open hurt too much. She concentrated on moving her muscles and swimming as fast as possible.

Nathan wasn't doing much better either. The heavy puzzle bag was between his teeth so he could use his hands for swimming. It wasn't easy to take in breath with the bag in his mouth but he managed. With sore feet and hands, he cursed the stupid MTV people for setting up such a stupid challenge with stupid flags and puzzles.

Since her ears were full of water and she was putting all her concentration on not drowning, she didn't hear her sister's voice until she was back at the beach.

"You forgot the flag!" Taylor screamed for the 6th time in a frustrated voice.

"What?" Haley asked confused.

She then looked at Nathan with a panicked expression.

"Nathan, where's the flag?"

"Didn't you take it?" he yelled. "You said you got the flag!"

"No! I _asked_ if _you_ got the flag!"

"We need to get it!" Nathan yelled and started to run back towards the water.

Realizing that her lungs couldn't survive another long swim so fast, she stopped him.

"Let's just make this puzzle first, catch in our breaths and rest and then get to the flag so we can swim faster." Haley said and started to undo the knots of the puzzle bags with Nathan.

"Fine. But you better be as smart with the puzzles as you say you are." Nathan said.

"Shut up, Nathan. I don't work well under pressure." Haley said seriously.

"What?! Why am I not surprised? Is there _anything_ you're good at?" he asked as Haley started to work on the puzzle. "Seriously, let me know if there is because so far you've been nothing but slow, weak and apparently not so great with the puzzles either." he commented when he saw Haley hesitating with the puzzle pieces.

"Shut up!"

"Seriously, Haley. I don't think-"

"Shut up! How many times do I have to say it to you?! Shut up!" she screamed loudly.

Taken back by the high pitched, loud scream, he looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"I'm not kidding, Nathan." Haley said a bit more calm. "Take a step back, shut the fuck up and let me work on this."

Nathan held his hands in the air in surrender as Haley nodded her head and turned back to face the puzzle. She didn't touch any of the pieces, instead just stared at them carefully, scanning them in her head and going through every little detail. About 15 seconds later just when Nathan was about to make a snappy comment, Haley took out the first piece, then the second and third, and completed the puzzle without hesitation.

"Let's go!" she said and they both dived back in the water.

Coming back a while later with the flag, they ran back to the puzzle and stuck the flag on the center where it fit.

"Time!" TJ yelled as the couple immediately undid the rope so they could finally be released from each other's presence.

Haley collapsed on the sand out of breath. Nathan looked at her with an angry annoyed look and was about to say something but closed his mouth instead and went to talk to his brother. Haley sat up and wrapped her arms around her feet as she watched Peyton and Mouth start the challenge.

She watched in envy as Mouth and Peyton worked well together, encouraging and supporting each other. They weren't the fastest swimmers but seemed to be doing relatively well anyways. When they had come back with their 3rd bag, Haley noticed Nathan walking back her way.

Haley sighed and prepared herself for the fight that was about to happen.

"Haley, you need to step it up." Nathan said while looking at Haley seriously.

"You need to stop breathing down my neck." she said through gritted teeth while keeping her eyes strictly on the water, on Mouth and Peyton.

"Come on, you sucked! You were weak and you forgot the flag!" Nathan said frustrated.

"That was not my fault! I specifically asked: 'got the flag?' from you."

"No, you said: 'got the flag' very clearly. There were no question marks."

"Blame it all on me, that's great." Haley said sarcastically.

"What else do you expect? You slowed me down and forgot the flag!" Nathan exploded.

"First of all, I didn't forget it! And second of all, who finished the puzzle? If you had been responsible for that, we'd still be out there!" Haley yelled.

"Ok, so you were able to finish a stinking puzzle. Congrats. But you weren't even that fast with that." Nathan said with a glare.

"If you hadn't been breathing down my neck, I would've been much quicker." Haley said very close to kicking Nathan's ass.

"That's not enough! Puzzles are not enough! What did you think the challenges were gonna be like? Huh? Riding ponies and braiding hair? You gotta wanna win! You gotta fight for it!" Nathan yelled. "You can't give up like that! You gotta _learn_ to fight!"

"Shut up, Nathan!" Haley yelled finally getting up on her feet while trying to swallow back the lump in her throat. "Shut up! You don't know anything about me!" she screamed not caring that the cameras were once again filming everything.

Never seen her so mad, Nathan decided to shut his mouth and not say anything in fear of pushing her over the edge. He could see her swallowing the lump in her throat down, trying not to cry. He felt a bang of guilt and looked away. Though he couldn't stand her, it didn't mean that he wanted to see her cry.

"We'll talk later." He mumbled.

"Can't fucking wait." Haley mumbled as Nathan went to talk to Lucas again, leaving Haley by herself.

Haley took in a deep breath and turned to look at her sister and Skills who were stretching and getting ready. Haley sat down again and kept her focus on cheering for her sister once she and Skills sprinted towards the water.

Haley smiled proudly when watching Taylor and Skills work together. They were both athletically strong and even though they couldn't swim as fast as some of the other groups, they were able to keep the same, fast pace throughout the entire challenge, never slowing down.

By the time they came back with their fourth puzzle bag and the flag they were dead tired for swimming so fast but were able to concentrate on the puzzle which they finished surprisingly fast.

"Time!" TJ yelled and went to talk to the producers about the teams.

"Good job!" Haley said and hugged Taylor once she slumped down on the sand next to Haley.

"Thanks…" she said catching her breath. "What was that fight with Nathan about?"

"Don't worry about that." Haley said.

"But I do." Taylor said and looked at her worried. "You two need to start working together."

"I can't! He's impossible!" Haley exclaimed.

"You have to!" Taylor said sternly. "If you two wanna make it to the end, you need to put all that shit behind and focus on communicating and working together as a team."

"I just can't!"

"Haley, think about the money." Taylor said and looked at her with a stern look.

"I know, I know…" Haley said uncomfortably.

"But do you? Do you _really_? Think what the money is for." Taylor said but suddenly stopped when she saw Brooke and Peyton approaching them.

Taylor turned to look at Haley quickly with a serious look. "Don't ever forget why we're here."

"Hey, girls!" Brooke said with a cheery voice. She noticed the serious looks on the girls' faces and frowned. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah…" Haley said. "I'm just bummed that I didn't do so good."

"Well, I'm sure you didn't do as bad as Shelley and Chris." Peyton whispered.

"Yeah, I hope we weren't the worst team." Haley said.

"Alright, let's gather around everyone." TJ yelled after finding out the winner.

"Here we go..." Haley mumbled as they all walked up to where TJ was standing.

"As you know, the team that did the worst will be going to Elimination which will be held in a few days." TJ said.

Haley kept her fingers crossed, hoping that she and Nathan hadn't done the worst. Nathan looked at TJ with a worried look, not wanting to go to Elimination yet.

"On 8th place today, going straight to Elimination, is..." TJ said and paused to look at everyone. "Bevin and Tim."

Haley and Nathan let out simultaneously sighs of relief. They looked at each other quickly, knowing that they had just dodged a bullet.

"On 7th place was Nathan and Haley." TJ said. "6th place, 2 seconds faster than the previous group, Shelley and Chris. 5th place goes to Anna and Jake, 4th to Brooke and Chase. 3rd today was Peyton and Mouth."

Rachel, Lucas, Skills and Taylor all held their breaths, anxious to know which group had won.

"On second place with a time of 2:15 was... Rachel and Lucas."

"Yeah!" Taylor screamed loudly and jumped up to hug Skills.

"The winning team with a time of 2 minutes and 8 seconds was Taylor and Skills." TJ said.

"Thank you very much." Taylor said with a grin and hugged Skills again after getting the prize.

"Bevin and Tim..." TJ said. "Elimination will be held on Saturday night. The others will vote a team that will compete against you tomorrow. In case of a tie, the team that had a worse time on the challenge, will be sent to Elimination. More information will follow."

Everyone nodded their heads in understanding and headed back to the vans. Taylor grabbed Brooke, Peyton and Haley by their hands to the side

"We need to come up with a plan to save Nathan and Haley." Taylor whispered.

"I know..." Brooke whispered. "They're gonna be the easy vote since they did the second worst."

"Shhhh... let's not talk here." Haley said when she noticed few groups looking at them.

"Yeah, let's talk later." Peyton said and they all piled inside the two vans.

"You do know we're dead, right." Nathan snapped once they were on their way back to their resort.

"Shut up, Nathan." Haley said through gritted teeth. "We'll talk later."

"Whatever..." he said and they all fell silent.

_So, we sucked at the Challenge. I couldn't concentrate on the puzzle because of Nathan's annoying whining and he still blames me for forgetting the flag. Whatever, I'm so over it. _

_At that point I thought there __might__ be a pretty good chance that our name would get mentioned at the Voting... But it was all about to get so much worse._

"Ok, we have a major problem." Brooke said once she, Peyton, Haley and Taylor were inside their bedroom.

"What's up?" Haley asked who had just changed into her pyjama pants and a tank top.

They had come back from the challenge earlier, hung out, made dinner and gossipped. Now it was about midnight and the girls were all in their room, ready to go to bed soon.

"I talked to Chase who was talking with his buddy Jake and apparently they wanna do the voting in a fair way and vote the second worst team, you and Nathan." Brooke said looking at Haley.

"Goddammit." Taylor said.

"I talked to Mouth." Peyton said and sighed sadly. "He said the same. He wants to be fair."

"This sucks!" Taylor said.

"We gotta think about the numbers." Haley said. "There are eight groups but only seven will vote."

"How do you know?" Brooke asked.

"Didn't you hear TJ today? He said to Bevin and Tim that _the others_ will vote the group that faces them at the Elimination." Haley said. "So, there are seven teams which means 14 votes. In case of a tie, Nathan and I will still lose so we need at least 8 votes against some other team. Lucas is not going to vote against Nathan and if us four and Lucas stick together, it's already 5 votes. We need three more."

"Who are we even gonna vote for?" Peyton asked.

"The way I see it, Shelley and Chris is pretty much the only team we can vote." Taylor said. "They did almost as bad as Haley and Nathan did and people really can't stand Chris."

"Three more votes..." Brooke said and turned to look at Taylor and Peyton. "Do you think Skills and Mouth would go for it?"

"They're gonna vote together, that's for sure." Peyton said. "But I really don't know. Mouth is a very ethical person. He wants to do the right thing."

"And Skills is very loyal so he probably won't go against Mouth." Taylor said.

"We have to think of someone else then." Haley said and then looked at them with a smile. "Rachel."

"What?" Brooke asked.

"Lucas can convince her. He can say that Bevin and Tim have a better chance of winning Elimination against Shelley and Chris than against Nathan and I. Besides, Rachel has a thing for Nathan, so she doesn't want him gone." Haley said.

"It could work." Taylor said. "Okay, two more votes... Who else is left?"

"Anna won't vote her friend Shelley in." Taylor said. "And since Shelley seems to be the one with the balls in her team, she's gonna get Chris to vote with her."

"And Jake is tight with Anna so they're sticking together." Brooke said.

"And Chase is sticking with Jake." Haley said.

"You need to talk to Nathan." Taylor suddenly said to Haley.

"Do I have to?" Haley asked with a frown.

"Do you wanna stay here for another week?" Taylor shot back.

"Yeah..."

"Then swallow your pride and talk to him." Taylor said.

"Fine... I'll talk to him and Lucas at the same time." Haley said. "So, we know that Anna, Jake, Chase, Shelley will Chris vote together for sure. That's five votes."

"And us four, Nathan, Lucas and Rachel will vote together. That's seven." Taylor said.

"Mouth and Skills are question marks." Brooke said.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure Mouth is voting against Haley and Nathan." Peyton said after thinking it for a while.

"How do you know that?" Haley asked.

"I think Mouth might have a thing for Shelley. They've been hanging out a lot together and he always talks about her." Peyton said.

"Okay, so it's our seven votes against their six." Haley said.

"So, it comes down to Skills. If she votes against you and Nathan, it will be a tie and you'll be sent to Elimination because you did worse than Chris and Shelley in the challenge." Taylor said.

"How can we convince Skills? The Voting is tomorrow!" Haley asked rubbing her head stressed.

"Maybe we could tell him that if he votes with us, we'll owe him one." Peyton suggested.

"I don't think he can be bought." Taylor said. "He's really ethical and all. And he's really smart so I don't think he can be manipulated easily."

"What if we promised to save him if it ever comes to that?" Brooke said.

Taylor shook her head in denial again.

"Skills is the kind of person who doesn't take favors but also doesn't give any. He thinks that everything he wants or needs, he can get it himself. And if he can't then he's not entitled to that." Taylor said.

"So, what the hell do we do then?" Haley asked frustrated.

"Do you think Nathan could talk to Skills?" Peyton asked.

Peyton looked at Haley with raised eyebrows when she huffed loudly in disgust.

"Nathan doesn't have a single smart bone in his body." Haley explained. "Whenever there's strategy, thinking or manipulation of some sorts involved, he's worthless. You can count on that." Haley said huffing annoyed.

"Don't you think you're being a bit hard on him?" Taylor asked.

"Will you quit with the whole 'Nathan's soooo great' –thing that you've got going on!" Haley exploded. "You're supposed to be _my_ sister! You're supposed to be on _my_ side!" she yelled.

"Whoa, calm down, Bub." Taylor said using her nickname for Haley. "I was just saying-"

"I know what you were saying." Haley interrupted her impatiently. "You have a crush on him. You like him. You wanna hook up with him. I don't care!"

"He is pretty hot, huh." Taylor said with a grin.

Haley rolled her eyes annoyed while pulling back the covers on her bed.

"Just don't let Nathan distract you when trying to persuade Skills on board with us." Haley said while lying on her bed and fluffing her pillow.

"I won't."

"We need his vote." Haley said looking at Taylor. "And it's up to you now."

"Ay, ay, ma'am." Taylor said saluting her sister.

"Sorry I snapped. Good night everyone." Haley said and smiled at her sister, letting her know that she wasn't mad or anything. She pulled the covers over her entire body before closing her eyes with a deep yawn.

Her head had started to hurt of all of the thinking and stressing out. She went through every single possible way of getting Skills to vote with them but couldn't come up with anything solid.

She desperately wanted to stay out of Elimination. Based on the way she and Nathan had performed so far, she was certain they wouldn't win and she was not ready to leave the game yet.

Though she still needed to come up with a way to get Skills on board, she realized it wasn't the only thing stressing her. It bothered Haley how strongly she had reacted to Taylor's comments about Nathan. Why should she care what Taylor and Nathan did, she wondered. She rolled over to look at her sister, when she heard Taylor talk.

"So, you don't care if I hook up with Nathan?"

Haley could feel her stomach doing flip flops, and not the good kind. Shaking away the upsetting feeling that the thought of Nathan and Taylor together gave her, she forced a smile and cheery voice.

"Of course not."

"Good."

Haley rolled over to face the wall and wondered again why she was so upset about the idea. Shrugging the feeling away, she let her tired body finally fall asleep.

* * *

AN: So, any thoughts on the chapter? :) Will they get Skills on board with them? Will Haley and Nathan make up? Well, I can answer the last question: it's about to get even worse for the next couple of chaps. Drama... ;)

xoxo

Fes


	6. Chapter 5: Nothing's Fair in Love & War

AN: Heya! Another update. :) Nuff said. Please review. :)

* * *

Quote of the day: The O.C.

Summer: "Do you remember that movie we saw about the two gay guys on the mountain?"

Marissa: "Lord of the Rings?"

* * *

_Dedicated to my crazy girls in Dublin. Miss ya like hell! Try not to snap at your boss and keep the Edward dream alive. ;)_

**Chapter 5. Nothing's Fair in Love and War.**

Week 2.

_So, Nathan and I sucked at the Challenge. Again. And we got into a huge fight afterwards. Again. That's two weeks in a row. But what's different this week is that there's actually a chance that we'll get sent to Elimination. _

_See, apparently MTV was dumb enough to cast people that actually have a conscience and wanna do the right thing. And since Nathan and I were the second worst team in the Challenge and the worst team gets automatically sent to Elimination, people feel like we should be voted to Elimination to make the competition "fair"._

_Fair my ass! When has this ever been fair? Was it fair when I got totally duped by my sister to do this show? Was it fair when we were suddenly told that we couldn't compete with our loved ones? Was it fair when I got partnered up with the biggest asshole in the show? Was it fair? Was it?! WAS IT?! _

_Anyways! The girls and I talked and came to the conclusion that voting Shelley and Chris to the Elimination would be our best choice. We counted that if me, Taylor, Brooke, Peyton, Rachel, Nathan and Lucas vote together it's already seven votes. We know Shelley, Chris, Jake, Chase and Mouth will vote against Nathan and I. That's six votes. _

_There are total of 14 votes cast but getting seven votes is not enough because in case of a tie, the team that did worse in the challenge will lose. So, if you do the math it leaves one person who we have absolutely no idea what he'll do. _

_Skills._

_If he votes with Shelley and Chris and his buddy Mouth, they get seven votes which is enough to send me and Nathan to Elimination. If he votes with us, that's 8 votes against Shelley and Chris which will be enough to sent them to Elimination._

_But the problem was to get Skills on our side. We brainstormed and threw ideas but Skills seems to be both loyal and smart._

_We were completely out of ideas. We were desperate. We were lost. But then the most interesting thing happened and opportunity presented itself. It was something so simple, so normal, so low key. How the hell we hadn't thought of that before, I'll never know. I bet you're eager to know what I'm talking about, right?_

_What is the easiest, simplest, fastest and safest way to get a guy to do exactly what you want?_

_

* * *

  
_

Earlier that day…

"Okay, what the hell are we gonna do?" Haley hissed while staring at Skills.

It was Friday, the day of the Voting. They still hadn't figured out how to convince Skills on board with them. Since they had no idea what time the Voting would take place, they were all desperate to act fast.

Haley, Taylor, Brooke and Peyton had been looking at Skills the whole morning while he had been playing basketball and chatting with Nathan, Lucas, Chase, Jake and Tim.

The four girls were once again on their bikinis, tanning by the side of the pool.

"I mean, we don't know if the Voting is gonna happen in 8 hours or 8 minutes." Haley said frustrated.

"Have you talked to Nathan and Lucas yet?" Taylor asked.

"I was kinda hoping you could do it." Haley said with an innocent smile.

"Haley! I have plenty of work trying to get Skills on our side. Sorry, but Nathan's your responsibility." She said. "And who knows, maybe you could talk things through and actually make up."

"You only want us to get along so he won't be mean to me and you can hook up with him without feeling bad." Haley said.

"Exactly!" Taylor said not even bothering to try to convince her anything else. Brooke and Peyton burst out laughing.

"Tay." Haley said.

"It's been almost two weeks and I haven't gotten any action!" she asked with a frustrated voice which made Peyton and Brooke laugh even more.

"You're unbelievable..." Haley said shaking her head with a smile.

"Just go talk to him." Taylor said and turned to look at the guys. "Look, they're even coming our way. Go!"

Haley sighed as she saw the two brothers take a break from the game and head towards them.

"Fine, but I'm talking to Lucas at the same time." She said getting up.

"Great. We'll try to talk with Skills." Taylor said.

Haley got up from the beach chair and approached the guys.

When Nathan saw her coming their way, he took a deep annoyed breath, sensing that they would have another fight. In the midst of thinking every possible way to say 'screw you' he couldn't help but notice that she wasn't completely disgusting and ugly with her dark purple bikini top, short Daisy Duke jean shorts, pink flip flops and huge sunglasses.

He tore his eyes off of her tiny figure, when he heard her talk.

"Hello, Nathan and Lucas. Can we talk for a sec?" she asked in the most professional voice she could muster.

Nathan sighed deeply while glaring at her.

"Really? Literally a second?" he asked.

Lucas shot him a warning glare.

"Sure, let's go inside." Lucas said and they all went inside the house, to the empty kitchen.

"So, what's up?" Nathan asked while opening the fridge and taking a Gatorade out.

"We gotta talk about the Voting." She said while sitting on a bar stool.

"Yeah, I know." Nathan said surprising Haley.

"Okay, what are your thoughts?" Haley asked.

"I don't know. Vote the weakest team, I guess." He said bored.

"Yeah, but the problem is that the other teams are thinking the same." Haley said.

"So?" Nathan asked.

"Don't you get it? _We_ are the weakest team." Haley said.

"And who can we thank for that?" Nathan asked sarcastically.

"Shut it." Lucas said to his brother before the two started fighting again. Lucas turned to look at Haley. "So, what do you think we should do?"

Haley looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping before continuing in a more quiet voice.

"The best bet for us is to vote Shelley and Chris." Haley said. "They haven't been doing so peachy in the challenges either and Chris really annoys people."

"Something you two have in common." Nathan muttered.

Haley gave him a glare but didn't say anything, knowing that if they got into a fight, there was no way they could get organized.

"Since Bevin and Tim are going straight to Elimination, their votes don't count so there are total of 14 votes. Since my sister doesn't want me in the Elimination, she's gonna vote with us. I talked to Brooke and Peyton and they are on board too. If you two vote also, we have six votes." Haley said.

"But we need eight." Nathan said, for the first time showing interest in the conversation.

"I know." Haley said. "You two need to talk to Rachel. She doesn't get along with Chris either and she has no ties to Shelley. Bevin is going to the Elimination so you can explain to Rachel that Bevin and Tim have a better chance of beating Shelley and Chris than me and you." Haley said looking at Nathan. "Besides, she has a total crush on both of you. Flirt a little and she'll do anything you want."

"You've put a lot of thought into this, huh." Nathan said.

"Yeah." She said. "And so should you."

"There's still only 7 votes, Ms. Einstein. We need eight." Nathan said annoyed.

"I know. Don't worry about that. We're handling it." Haley said.

"We?" Lucas asked interested.

"Uh, Taylor and I." Haley said quickly, not wanting them to know that she had an alliance with Brooke and Peyton also, especially since Lucas wasn't part of it.

"Who are we gonna get?" Lucas asked.

"Skills is the only choice." She said.

"Why?"

"Because all the others will vote with against Nathan and me." Haley said. "All the others are thinking about fair game. We're the easy choice for them."

"Why is Skills the only choice?" Lucas asked confused. "I mean, I get that Anna won't vote her friend in but why the others? Like Chase and Jake?"

"Anna and Jake are tight so he'll vote with her. And since Jake is tight with Chase, Chase probably won't betray him. And what comes to Mouth? He has a crush on Shelley." Haley explained. "So, that leaves Skills."

"I'm confused." Nathan said while Haley bit her tongue so she wouldn't say a sarcastic comment.

"The only thing you two need to worry is getting Rachel on board. Let us handle Skills. And remember, we're voting against Shelley and Chris." Haley said

"And you're sure you'll get Skills' vote?" Nathan asked.

"Don't worry about anything. We've got it all under control." she said dodging his question.

Truth to be told, she had no idea if they'd get Skills' vote.

"Alright." Nathan said. "That it?"

"Yeah." Haley said.

"Good." He said and threw the empty Gatorade into the trash. "I'll talk to Rachel when I see her."

"Thanks." Haley said and watched Nathan walk back outside.

Haley and Lucas looked at each other.

"Congrats on your first real conversation with my brother that didn't end in a fight." Lucas said and high fived Haley.

"Thanks, who'd known?" she grinned. "Just make sure you talk to Rachel."

"Yeah, Rachel..." Lucas frowned. Haley turned to look at Lucas surprised.

"I take it you're not the biggest fan of her, huh."

"She's really pushy." Lucas said quietly. "Truth to be told, she scares me sometimes."

"Yeah, me too." Haley said reassuringly. "But it must be kinda nice to have her all over you."

"I'm not really that kind of type." Lucas confessed. "I mean, I like girls and all but I don't think I could ever get together with any of the girls here. Not because I don't find them attractive, because I do. It's just because of the drama and the surroundings. I mean, we're on reality TV. It's not the most stable environment to build a relationship."

"Oh, really." Haley said with a huge grin knowing that pretty much all the girls had a crush on him.

"Yeah, I think it would be really awkward." Lucas said.

Haley was about to burst out laughing. She knew that Brooke, Peyton, Rachel and Taylor were all more or less interested in him and apparently Lucas had no intentions of hooking up with any of them. She shook her head with a smile while walking with Lucas back to where the girls were.

She noticed that all Brooke, Taylor and Peyton perked up when they noticed Lucas nearing them.

"Hey girls." Lucas said with a smile while walking past them to the basketball court.

"Hey, Luke." They all said at the same time with cheery, flirtatious voices.

"He's so fine." Brooke mumbled with a dreamy voice once Lucas was gone.

"Oh, I know." Taylor said licking her lips.

"Such a cute butt..." Peyton said.

All three girls turned to look at each other with suspicious glares.

"I though you liked Jake." Brooke said to Peyton.

"Yeah!" Taylor said accusingly.

"I thought you liked Nathan." Peyton said while looking at Taylor with a frown.

"Yeah!" Brooke said.

"Oh, what about Chase?" Taylor asked from Brooke.

All three girls glared at each other.

"Come on, girls." Haley said breaking the awkward silence. "You don't even know if Lucas has any feelings towards anyone. He might not even want to hook up with anyone on national TV."

All three turned to look at her and then started to simultaneously laugh loudly.

"Oh, sweet Haley." Taylor said while laughing loudly. "Why wouldn't he want any of us?"

"Yeah, I mean we're all hot, nice and funny." Brooke said grinning.

"Lucas would be lucky to have any of us." Peyton said with a smile.

Haley looked at the three girls with a knowing grin. She decided to keep her mouth shut and for once not butt into people's business.

"You know what, you're right." Haley said still smiling. "He would be happy to have any of you."

"Exactly." The three girls said.

"So, did you get a chance to talk to Skills?" Haley asked changing the subject.

"No." the three girls said annoyed.

"As soon as we mentioned the word 'voting', he bolted." Brooke said with a scoff.

"Made some lame excuse of going somewhere." Taylor said.

"I guess he didn't want to put himself in a situation where he'd have to either lie to us or piss us off." Peyton said.

"This sucks." Haley said annoyed.

"I mean, how the hell are we supposed to get h-" Brooke said but stopped abruptly.

The girls turned to look at her with confused looks.

"What's wron-" Peyton started but Brooke immediately raised her index finger in the air and shhh-ed her.

Brooke, who was still watching Skills intently, sat up a bit higher on her chair and pushed her sunglasses on top of her forehead. The girls watched her in confusion.

"What?" Taylor whispered.

"Look." Brooke said nodding towards the guys.

"What?" they all asked when the only thing they saw was a bunch of guys hanging around and chatting.

"Skills. Look at Skills!" Brooke hissed.

They all turned to look at Skills who was talking with Chase but couldn't figure out why she was making such a big deal.

"Brooke, you gotta be more specific." Taylor said.

"For god's sakes..." she muttered. "Look at Skills."

"Yeah, he's talking to Chase." Peyton said.

"Look at his face." Brooke said. "The _look_ on his face."

They all looked at Skills intently trying to figure out what Brooke was talking about. Just as Haley was about to ask another question, Taylor gasped loudly.

"That look!" Taylor hissed knowingly.

"I know!" Brooke said.

"What, what, what?" Haley asked. "I have no clue what you're talking about."

"I know that look!" Peyton also said suddenly.

Haley rolled her eyes annoyed.

"Can somebody tell me what the hell you're talking about?"

"It's the look-." Taylor said.

"-on his face! Stop saying that and explain!" Haley snapped.

"That's the I-think-you're-hot-and-I-wanna-get-to-know-you –look." Taylor said with a smirk.

"The you're-smoking-and-I-can't-stop-staring-at-you –look." Peyton said.

"The you're-sexy-and-I-want-you-now –look." Brooke said.

"The I-can't-help-but-picture-you-naked-on-top-"

"I got it, I got it." Haley snapped and squinted her eyes to look at Skills more carefully.

Suddenly she noticed it too. Though Skills was talking with Chase, he was looking somewhere else. His eyes were wide open, his face was flushed and his mouth was slightly parted. Haley could've sworn she saw a bit of drool on the side of his mouth.

"Where is he looking?" Peyton mumbled.

"_Who_ is he looking at?" Taylor asked.

They noticed that he was glancing towards the back door of the house that led to the kitchen. They followed his gaze until they saw Bevin standing in front of the door wearing a bikini and miniskirt while stretching her arms and legs slowly.

"Bevin." The four said at the same time with matching grins.

"Skills likes Bevin." Taylor said with a grin.

"She's the answer." Brooke said.

"Ok, here's what we're gonna do." Taylor said taking charge of the situation. "Brooke and Peyton, you're gonna talk to Bevin. Drop little hints that Skills might like her. Make her think of him, make her want him."

"Relax." Brooke said while cracking her knuckles one by one with a huge grin. "You're acting like I've never manipulated people. I could get Britney Spears and Kevin Federline back together if I wanted."

"She's right." Peyton said. "When she was 13 she managed to get her dad to fall in love and marry their maid."

Taylor and Haley gave her weird looks which made Brooke shrug her shoulders nonchalantly.

"What? I liked her cooking."

"Please tell me your parents were divorced then." Haley said with a smile.

"Oh, totally. My mom wasn't even in the country." Brooke said. "She was in Aruba."

"With her tennis teacher, right?" Peyton asked trying to remember the incident.

"No, with the pool boy." Brooke said. "He went to Jamaica with James."

"Who?" Peyton asked.

"The tennis teacher."

"Wait, wasn't Josh the tennis teacher?" Peyton asked.

"No, Josh was my math teacher." Brooke said and shook her head while reminiscing the incident. "I always wondered why she suddenly wanted to attend all the PTA meetings."

"And I thought we had a twisted family..." Haley muttered as Taylor nodded her head in agreement.

"Yeah, no kidding." Taylor said. "I can see where you get your personality."

"Ok, back on the subject." Brooke said with a smile.

"Yeah, so you two will talk to Bevin while I will chat with Skills." Taylor said looking at Peyton and Brooke.

"What will you say?" Haley asked.

"I don't know. I'll just mention Bevin. Tell him she's been talking about him or something like that."

"Sounds like a plan." Brooke said.

"Wait, what about me? What can I do?" Haley asked.

"You, my dear, will make sure Nathan and Lucas get Rachel on board." Taylor said and then turned to look at Brooke. "We need to work fast and efficiently, we don't even know when the Voting will be."

"Got it." Brooke said and saluted Taylor before getting up with Peyton and heading towards Bevin.

4 hours later…

"Alright, Newbies." TJ Lavin, the host, said. "We're here for the very first Voting. Since Bevin and Tim lost the challenge, they will be sent to Elimination automatically. Today the rest of you will vote one team to compete against them. In case of a tie, the team that did worse on the challenge will lose and be sent to Elimination which will be the day after tomorrow, Saturday night. Everything clear?"

Everyone nodded their heads anxiously. They were sitting in the big living room, everyone hunched next to their team mates while waiting to see what would happen next.

Everyone had avoided talking about the subject in big groups but smaller groups of people, usually two or three teams, were constantly talking quietly. No one really knew what to expect and people had a bad feeling that things would get ugly.

"Alright, let's start the Voting with Anna and Jake. Which team should go to Elimination?" TJ said looking at Anna and Jake who were sitting on the far end of the coach.

Though Haley knew almost for sure that they would vote against her and Nathan, she still kept her fingers crossed and hoped for a miracle.

"Ok, this is really uncomfortable and we really wish we didn't have to do this… But I'm voting for Haley and Nathan because they were the slowest team and we think this is the only way to be fair." Jake said in an uncomfortable voice.

Nathan, who was sitting next to Haley on the couch, glared at Jake menacingly. Nathan knew that he would get votes from the others but it was never easy to try to stay calm and professional when the game was nothing but personal. Getting a vote from your friend, no matter what the reason was, felt like a slap in the face.

"Me too." Anna said quietly.

"Alright, that's two votes for Haley and Nathan." TJ said and looked at the next team. "Shelley and Chris? Your votes."

"We're voting Haley and Nathan for the same reason." Shelley said and turned to look at Haley apologetically. "I'm so sorry, it's nothing personal. I'm just trying to make this as fair as possible."

Haley nodded her head with a tight smile.

"Does Chris agree with this decision? You both are entitled to your own votes." TJ said.

Chris looked at him with that deer in headlights face.

"Umh, I…" he stuttered and turned to look at Shelley for confirmation.

"Chris agrees." Shelley said rolling her eyes annoyed.

"Yes, Chris agrees." Chris said with a smile.

"Okay, that's four votes for Haley and Nathan." TJ said and turned to look at the couple.

Nathan was sitting low on the couch, leaning his elbows on his knees. He had a menacing glare on his face that dared anyone to mention their names again. Haley was sitting next to him, leaning back on the comfy couch, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Her lips were pursed shut tightly and she had a glare that matched Nathan's.

"Haley and Nathan? Who are you voting?" TJ asked.

"Why don't we throw it right back at them?" Nathan snapped clearly getting annoyed with all the votes they were getting even though it was expected. "Shelley and Chris."

"Nathan." Haley snapped, annoyed that he was showing emotions.

The Voting was not a good place to make enemies and showing selfishness and immaturity was definitely a fast way to get everyone to dislike you. Haley turned to look at TJ and spoke with a quieter, calmer voice.

"We're voting Shelley and Chris because we feel like they also haven't done very good in the challenges."

"That's two votes for Shelley and Chris, four for Nathan and Haley." TJ said. "Lucas and Rachel?"

"I'm not voting for my brother so I'm also voting for Shelley and Chris." Lucas said.

"Me too. I vote with Lucas." Rachel said.

Shelley looked around her mouth open in shock. She was sure Nathan and Haley would get all the votes except for few. She sure as hell didn't expect a tight competition.

"Four votes for Shelley and Chris and the same for Nathan and Haley." TJ said. "Peyton and Mouth?"

"Nathan and Haley." Mouth mumbled. "Wanna make this fair."

"And does Peyton agree?" TJ asked.

"Well, actually..." she started and Mouth turned to look at her confused. "Sorry, but I promised Haley I wouldn't vote her so I'm voting Shelley and Chris."

"Ok..." TJ said with a grin. "Five votes each. Brooke and Chase?"

"Nathan and Haley." Chase said.

"Shelley and Chris." Brooke said and gave Chase an apologetic shrug. "Same reason as Peyton."

"Interesting." TJ said. "Six votes for Shelley and Chris, and six for Nathan and Haley. Since Shelley and Chris did better in the Challenge, they will win in case of a tie. So, if Nathan and Haley get one more vote, they go to Elimination against Bevin and Tim. We have one last group that hasn't voted yet. Taylor and Skills."

"Well, I'm not voting my sister so... Shelley and Chris." Taylor said.

"Skills? It's up to you now. Which team are you sending to Elimination?" TJ asked.

Skills looked first at Nathan and Haley, then at Chris and Shelley and finally at Bevin who gave him a reassuring smile.

"I'm with Taylor, so I vote Shelley and Chris. Sorry."

"What?!" Shelley yelled.

"What the hell just happened?" Chris mumbled.

The death glares on Nathan and Haley's faces had turned into matching smirks. They both got indescribable satisfaction when watching Shelley get angrier by the second. Never letting the smirk die on their faces, Nathan and Haley bumped their fists together.

* * *

_What is the easiest, simplest, fastest and safest way to get a guy to do exactly what you want? _

_The right girl, apparently._

_Two days ago Brooke and Peyton talked to Bevin while Taylor talked to Skills. And voíla. 15 minutes later Skills and Bevin were talking. And laughing and smiling and giggling and flirting. It didn't take long for Skills to realize that if he didn't want to send his new crush home, he needed to vote Shelley and Chris into Elimination._

_And he did._

_After the Voting, they chose the Elimination Challenge. Bevin and Tim picked up the Stairway to Heaven –coin from the bag. TJ didn't tell us anything else about the Challenge but we suspect it's got to do with climbing or something. We'll see in a minute. _

_I hope Bevin and Tim win tonight. I mean, I love Shelley and I wish she could stay but she hasn't talked to me in two days since the Voting happened. If she wins tonight, I'm pretty sure she's gonna do everything to put me and Nathan in the next time._

_I've also learned to like Bevin and Tim more. Bevin's a real sweetheart and she's really cute with Skills. Tim's also really nice and seems to be getting along well with Nathan. Even though it's a known fact that Bevin and Tim are not... how can I say this nicely... Ok, let's just say that Bevin and Tim are not the brightest crayons in the box. I'm not so sure though... I think people underestimate them sometimes and I think they're gonna go far in this game._

_So, I hope Bevin and Tim win tonight. We'll see._ Haley said finishing her confessional.

She stood up from the comfy chair in the Confessional Room and left the room. She noticed Taylor hanging out with Skills and Bevin by the kitchen.

"Hey, sis! Had a good confessional?" Taylor asked.

"The normal." Haley said with a smile.

"Alright, I need to go change before the Elimination." Bevin said while hugging Skills.

"Good luck." He mumbled.

"Thanks. Don't forget to cheer for us." Bevin said to the girls.

"We won't." Taylor said.

"Ok, see you at the beach!"

"Later." Taylor said and turned to look at Skills. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I just really wish that they'd win." Skills said. "Actually, I'm gonna go have a little chat with Tim." He said and left.

"So, are we ready to go see the Elimination?" Taylor asked from Haley.

"Yeah, let's go." Haley said.

They walked outside where people were hanging out by the pool ready to go to the beach where the Elimination would be held. Haley noticed Shelley and Chris talking to one another quietly, strategizing and prepping each other. Shelley glanced when she saw Haley walking past them. She gave her a mean glare before turning to talk to Chris again.

"You ok?" Taylor asked once she heard Haley sigh.

"Yeah, I just wish it didn't have to be Shelley, you know. We were friends."

"It's a game. And if she doesn't understand that, she's not fit for this." Taylor said.

"Yeah, you're right." Haley said once they reached the rest of the group.

"Of course I am." Taylor said. "Haley, you can't get emotional in this game. Because the minute you do, you're screwed."

"Ok, I won't." Haley said once they got to where the rest of the group was.

"Hey, girls." Brooke said. "So, how does it feel to not be going to Elimination?" Brooke asked Haley.

Haley and Nathan glanced at each other quickly.

"It feels really good." Haley said and Nathan nodded his head in agreement.

They looked at each other for another second before turning to talk with their friends again.

Few minutes later they walked down the beach until they saw a huge, wooden platform set and in the middle four 20-feet-tall ropes hanging from a crane. Few minutes later when they were all around the arena, TJ jumped in the middle of the platform.

"Will the two teams please come in the center?" he asked.

Bevin and Tim with their yellow team colors, high fived each other and walked up to the center as Skills and the girls cheered for them. Chris and Shelley in their blue clothes came from the other direction with the applause of their friends.

"There are four 20-foot-ropes hanging from the crane. Your job is simple. You each have to climb the rope and grab the flag that's attached to the crane. The first team to get their two flags from the top, wins. Any questions?" TJ said.

Both teams shook their heads in denial.

"Alright, take your positions so we can get your gear on." TJ said as the teams lined up in front of their ropes.

Some MTV staff came to put protective straps around them so that if they would fall, they wouldn't hit the ground.

"Let's go Team Yellow!" Skills yelled clapping his hands together.

"Come on, Shelley and Chris. Win it!" Anna said cheering for her friend.

"Teams, ready!" TJ yelled when they were given the green light from the staff.

"Get set.... Go!" TJ yelled.

The audience watched all four start to climb the rope as fast as possible. Even though it wasn't very high, it was extremely difficult to climb the loose rope.

Tim got to the top first and grabbed his flag. Chris, who had earlier seemed to be physically weak, was now making great progress. Shelley's constant death threats must have finally worked because he got to the top second.

It was up to the girls now.

Neither Shelley nor Bevin was weak and they seemed to climb at the same pace, being neck and neck the entire time. The ropes were all very close to one another so they were constantly bumping shoulders, elbows and hips together.

The audience was going crazy, that's how good of a competition it was. Every single person was cheering for their favorite team and even the MTV staff seemed to be making a lot of noise.

Skills watched in horror as Bevin and Shelley climbed neck and neck. He had really grown to like Bevin during the past few days and he definitely didn't want to see her go home this early.

"Help her!" Skills yelled to Tim.

Tim, who was hanging from the crane, glanced down at Skills quickly and shrugged his shoulders as if asking how.

"Come on, Bev!" Tim yelled, looking down at his team mate.

"Let's go, Shelley. Five more feet!" Chris yelled.

Tim looked down again with a worried look. The girls were still tied.

Six feet... five feet... four feet...

Tim then suddenly thought of the only way he could help Bevin. When Bevin was about three feet away from the top, Tim reached his hand down and grabbed Bevin's hand. As fast as possible, he pulled Bevin up. As soon as she was up, she ripped her flag and turned to look at TJ for confirmation.

As soon as TJ blew the whistle that indicated the end of the challenge, Bevin screamed in joy as loud as she could.

"Shit..." Shelley mumbled when she realized they had just lost. Shelley and Chris looked at each other and sighed in disappointment.

Bevin and Tim, who had just gotten back on the ground, hugged each other with loud cheers. Bevin then turned to look at Skills who had jumped over the fence that separated the audience from the arena. Bevin jumped up to hug him and wrapped her legs around him, giving him a long kiss.

"Yeah, baby!" Skills yelled when they separated.

"Not a bad first kiss, huh." Bevin smirked.

"Definitely not."

"Bevin and Tim." TJ announced. "Congrats on winning the Elimination. Shelley and Tim, good effort. It was neck and neck the entire time. But you know the drill, you have 15 minutes to pack your stuff."

Shelley and Chris nodded their heads in understanding.

They all walked back up to the house, Bevin and Tim celebrating while Shelley and Chris said their goodbyes.

Haley tried to talk with Shelley to let her know it was all just a game but she wouldn't hear it. After trying to talk to her again, Haley gave up and went to the confessional to make her peace.

_Shelley and Chris just lost the Elimination. I can understand why she's mad but she still has no right. This is a game and everyone can't be winners. I'm here to win the money, not to make new friends._

Haley looked at the tiny camera in the middle of the wall as her eyes narrowed in anger and her voice got colder.

_So Shelley, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings.... but SCREW YOU if you think I'm gonna let anyone stand in the way of that money. You were just the first of many people I'm planning on sending home in the upcoming weeks. Tough break._ Haley said, finishing her confessional.

She stood up and left the room but stopped in the middle of the hallway when she noticed Chris and Shelley by the front door with their suitcases, ready to leave.

Looking to see if Shelley would say anything to her but once she saw the death glare, Haley scoffed loudly not even bothering to apologize anymore. Without saying anything, Haley walked straight past them never even as much as glancing her way.

"One team down, six to go."

* * *

AN: So, there we go. :) As always, I'd love to hear what you think. What was good, bad? What would you change?


	7. Chapter 6: The Lowest of the Low

AN: Heya people, I'm back with yet another chappie. Hope you enjoy, and as always, REVIEW! :)

This chapter is kinda intense. It's one of those "you gotta hit the bottom before things can get better" -chapters. :)

* * *

Quote of the day: Laguna Beach

Lo (in the limo before prom): "Morgan has the same dress as me. She's... a whore."

* * *

**Chapter 6. The Lowest of the Low, the Meanest of the Mean.**

Week 3.

_Someone "smart" once said that there's a thin line between love and hate. I've got two words for that retard: bull and shit! That person clearly never met Haley James, the creator and proud member of Bitch For Life Association. I'm not even kidding because if you'd meet her and spend any time with her, you'd agree with me._

_Not only is she totally useless in challenges and nothing but dead weight, her personality is even worse. She's young, annoying, squeeky and so frigging stubborn that I bet her mom had to carry her for two extra months because she refused to come out on time. And also because she enjoys torturing people. It's what she does. And she's good at it. She's very, __very__ good._

_Her abilities to annoy people to the point of seriously considering a murder/suicide, is phenomenal and I'd admire them if her skills weren't focused solely on me._

_The others here seem to be totally clueless about her. Not only do they __not__ find her annoying, but they actually __like__ her. For example my brother Lucas. He can't stop yapping how great it is to finally meet someone his age that enjoys reading and books as much as he does. Queer!_

_And what annoys me even more is that one of the hottest girls here is actually related to her! But I'm not quite sure what the deal with Taylor is. One minute she's flirting with me, the next she's telling me to be nicer to her sister. Like that's ever gonna happen. _

_Thank god we have Rachel here. She won't care if I'm nice to Haley or not. She won't even care if I'm nice to her best friend Bevin. Hell, she probably wouldn't care whether I was nice to her. Yeah, Rachel isn't the brightest bulb in the chandelier._

* * *

_Nathan Scott... Grrrr... See this vein on the side of my head? Usually when I'm stressed, it starts ticking slightly, making my head ache. But I don't stress easily so I don't have to worry about it. For example when I had the Stanford interview which determined whether I would get excepted to my dream school or not, I didn't even sweat. No ticking veins, nothing._

_But in Nathan's case? Every time I see, hear or even as much as sense him somewhere near, the vein comes to life and tries to apparently kill me or at least knock me unconscious, based on the force and speed against my head. _

_I hate Nathan so much that I've seriously started to worry that in my sleep my defence mechanisms would force me to unconsciously stab him or smother him with a pillow. Personally, I'd prefer the latter since I never liked blood though in his case I'd be more than willing to make an exception._

_He's... he's... how do you describe a person you hate so much that you'd rather cut off your own arm than as much as touch his? Actually, never mind. That pretty much summed it up._

_This week has been the worst so far. Nathan and I've been constantly fighting like cats and dogs and it all culminated at this week's challenge, once again..._

_

* * *

  
_

"What are you doing?"

Haley opened her eyes, peaked from under her blanket and turned to stare at the tall, dark boy who was standing right next to her bed with a mean, accusing glare on his face. Haley ignored the fact that he looked extremely good with nothing but a pair of basketball shorts on and tried her best to concentrate on glaring at him but since she was still in a sleepy state, she merely grimaced.

"Daydreaming of drowning you and seeing the life and soul disappear from your eyes until there's nothing left but your limp, dead body on my arms… You know, the usual." Haley said with a groggy voice while closing her eyes again.

"Whatever, the challenge is in an hour. You can't be sleeping!" Nathan said.

Haley, opening her eyes again, raised one eye brow and sat up to lean on her elbows.

"Oh, _really_?" she asked with narrowed eyes. "Last time I checked, you weren't the boss of me but do tell me if somewhere along the way you've misunderstood so."

"Someone's a cranky sleeper." He said. "Get up or you're gonna be dead tired at the challenge."

"Whatever."

"I don't know why I even bother since you really can't do any worse than you've so far done. But still..."

"Nathan, I can do the fuck I want so why don't you just tell me what you need and we'll both pretend that we actually don't wanna kill each other."

"Fine." He said. "We can't lose today."

"Okay..." Haley said and sat up. She looked at Nathan with raised eyebrows as if waiting for him to continue.

"What?" he asked.

"Was that it? That we can't lose today? I mean, isn't that kinda obvious?" Haley asked and bit her tongue when she wanted to say 'kinda like you'.

"Well, sorry for caring!" Nathan said and started to leave the room.

"Wait!" Haley said while throwing the blanket away and standing up to face him. "I agree. We can't lose today. We've already been lucky twice and third time is pushing it."

"Yeah, so I need you to do your best today." Nathan said.

"Like I haven't before!" Haley said frustrated that Nathan was blaming her again. "Look, whatever you think, our losing streak hasn't been my fault."

"You forgot the flag!"

"That was you!"

"You are slower!"

"You are dumber!"

"Shut up!"

"_You_ shut up!"

"_You_ shut up!"

"Nathan, this isn't going anywhere! This is ridiculous!" Haley yelled throwing her hands in the air.

"You are ridiculous!" he yelled back.

"The reason why we're losing is because we have no strategy. We just both do what we think is best and it clearly isn't working!" Haley said while starting to go through her closet.

"Ok, so we need a strategy. Here's one: how about you listen to me and do what I say?"

"Or how about you stop acting like an idiot jock and start to listen to what I have to say for once?" Haley suggested while grabbing small, black gym shorts from the closet and throwing them on her bed.

"I thought you wanted to win!" Nathan said. "With that strategy is not possible."

"Because Nathan Scott is always right and never wrong!" Haley said in a sarcastic voice.

"Well, actually yeah. You got that part right. Congrats." Nathan said with a dry voice as Haley threw a green t-shirt on the bed.

"Wanna know what your problem is?" Haley asked.

"Wanna know yours?" he shot back.

"You have a god-complex. You think you're the best and you don't care about others around you." Haley said.

"You think you're better than the rest of us. You can't stand if someone doesn't agree with you and it's always your way or the highway." Nathan said.

"You're competitive in every single aspect of your life and it's screwing up your social life. And without the social side, you can't function as a person!" Haley said.

Nathan looked at her for few seconds trying to think of some smart insult to throw at her.

"You... you suck!" he blurted finally.

"Very mature, Nathan." Haley said.

"Shut up, Haley. You walk around with your nose high in the air! So, you go to Stanford! Big fucking deal, so does thousands of other people. Newsflash! You're nothing original!"

"Oh, _I_ walk my nose high in the air? Who's the one who has been bragging about being the next big NBA star for the past two and a half weeks? Newsflash, Nathan! You're never gonna make it!"

"Shut up!"

"You shut up!"

"_You_ sh-"

"What the hell is going on in here?!"

Both Nathan and Haley turned to look at the door where Taylor was standing her hands crossed over her chest.

"Nothing." They both said through gritted teeth while glaring at each other again.

"Good." Taylor said. "Now, scram."

"I'm gone." Haley said grabbing her clothes and going to the bathroom that was in the hallway to change.

Taylor turned to look at Nathan.

"What the hell was that?"

"Your sister's being a bitch again." Nathan said.

"Stop calling her that." Taylor snapped.

"Ok, don't get your panties in a bunch." Nathan said. "She's just being annoying, yet again."

"Be easy on her."

"As soon as she quits being a bitch."

"Stop it! She's my sister and you do not have the right to call her that. Or any woman for that matter." Taylor said and then added with a grin. "Except Rachel. You can always call her a bitch."

"Whatever." Nathan said with a smile. "Your sister just needs to lighten up and stop being so goddamm annoying."

"Be easy on her. You don't know what she's been through." Taylor said with a hollow voice that indicated so much more.

Nathan immediately perked up to look at Taylor.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Taylor said quickly, realizing she had said too much. "Just be easy on her."

"Impossible." Nathan said. "She needs to push herself to be better. If not, we're out of this competition."

"She's doing the best she can." Taylor said.

"Fine." Nathan said and then looked at her with a smirk. "So, you wanna 'hang out' before the challenge?" he said and nudged his head towards Taylor's bed with a grin.

"Out!" she said with a laugh while pushing him towards the door and opening it for him.

"I'd give you the ride of your life and you can bet your ass you'd be satisfied at the end. Come on, I'm all pumped up for the challenge." He said with a flirty grin while stepping outside.

His grin faded when he saw Haley walking past them. "And the moment's gone. What a turn off."

"Screw you." Haley said while walking past him towards the staircase.

"Screw? Yes. You? Hell no."

* * *

"Welcome to your third Challenge, Newbies!" TJ Lavin, the host of the show, announced.

They'd just been transported to the location of their third challenge. They were all standing in front of TJ, wearing their team colors, ready and pumped for another challenge. Behind TJ was a huge 40-foot climbing wall.

"Behind me you see a 40-foot wall. Your task is simple. Climb as fast as possible. Slowest team will be automatically going to Elimination on Saturday. Everything clear?"

"Yeah..." People mumbled while looking at the wall.

"Since Bevin and Tim won the Elimination, they will be making the order today." He said.

Bevin and Tim took the clipboard from TJ and walked away from the others to do their list.

Haley and Nathan watched as everyone else went to talk to their team mates while pointing, whispering and looking at the wall. Haley sighed as she was once again left alone with Nathan.

"Should we come up with some sort of strategy?" Haley asked.

"Besides the 'climb fast and try not to be such a loser as always'?" Nathan snapped.

"Fine, let's not talk then." Haley snapped back and sat down on the grass with a huff.

"Works for me." He said, sitting down about 5 feet away from her.

Few minutes later Bevin and Tim came back. They handed the clipboard to TJ as the rest of the group gathered back.

"Ok, Bevin and Tim have made their choice." He said. "First team to start today is... Nathan and Haley."

"Great." Haley mumbled.

"Second is Brooke and Chase, third Anna and Jake, fourth is Peyton and- you spelled Mouth wrong. There's no F." TJ said with a grin as the rest laughed.

"Fifth is Rachel and Lucas, sixth Taylor and Skills, and last team is Bevin and Tim." TJ said. "Haley and Nathan, let's start."

"Good luck!" Taylor yelled while watching Haley and Nathan walk towards the wall.

"You think they're gonna do good?" Lucas asked coming up next to her.

"Are you kidding? Look at them." Taylor said while pointing at the couple who was already fighting about something.

"Yep, they're doomed." Lucas said with a sigh as he saw Haley smack Nathan upside the head.

"What the hell, Haley!" Nathan yelled as the MTV staff put the wires and protective gear on them.

"'What the hell, Haley'." Haley mimicked him.

"You know, if you'd loosen up and start acting a like a normal person for a change, you might actually be someone I could tolerate. I mean, just look at your sister Taylor. She's fun and cool and not to even mention athletic."

"Shut up, you asshole. You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh, I don't? Try to form a muscle or do some cardio for a change. Seriously, you look like a twig that could snap any moment. Though the idea of you snapping in half wouldn't be such a bad thing after all."

"Drop dead, Nathan."

"Go to hell, Haley."

"Too late, I'm already there." She mumbled.

"Alright, team green ready to start?" TJ asked.

"Yep, the dream team is ready." Nathan said while glaring at Haley.

"Yeah. We're team green, the dream team." Haley said.

They both burst out laughing loudly at the same time but a second later were already quiet and back to glaring at each other again.

"Shut up, James."

"Zip it, Scott."

"Team Green, the Dream Team, whatever you wanna be called, are you ready?" TJ asked.

"Yep." They both said and took positions in front of the wall.

"Get set! Climb!" TJ yelled and blew the horn.

Side by side, they both immediately set their foot on the first hole in the wall and crabbed the next one and started to make their way up. Nathan, being stronger and taller, was able to climb faster than she because he could use his hands more.

Since they had no strategy and neither had even spent that much time studying the wall beforehand, they ran into trouble soon. About halfway through the wall Haley noticed that there were less of the small holes on the wall that they used for climbing which made it harder. Nathan, being 6'2'' never noticed and made it to the top fast.

"I'm up!" he yelled and looked down. "Come on, Haley!"

"There aren't enough holes!" she yelled when she realized that she literally couldn't make it any higher.

"Come on!" Nathan yelled when she wasn't moving.

"Nathan, I can't! The holes are too high! It's impossible!"

Cursing loudly, Nathan started to descend. When he was low enough, he reached his hand down and Haley immediately took a tight grip from it. Nathan had no trouble pulling her small body up, so that she could reach the next hole. She climbed the rest of the way up in record time.

"Done!" Haley yelled once she reached the top.

TJ blew the horn and they both started to make their way down.

Haley glanced at Nathan quickly and noticed that he was once again fuming. As soon as he was down on the ground and out of the gear, he stormed away, leaving Haley by herself. Not that she minded, she really wasn't in the mood for another fight.

One by one she watched the groups start and finish the challenge. Now that she was down on the ground and saw the wall better, she noticed that there was no way any other girl could make the difficult part by herself either. The wall had been designed so that the other person had to pull the other high enough so that they could reach the next hole.

Once everyone had seen Nathan and Haley's performance, they knew what to do. Like Haley and Nathan had done, the guy had to stay on his side of the wall and wait for the girl to get to the point where there were no holes. Then he'd have to pull her high enough to the next one.

One after another the groups finished the challenge and the more groups went by, the more positive Haley was that she'd be sent to Elimination. Though they had been fast in the challenge, they had lost precious seconds when not knowing what to do. If only they had stopped to actually look at the wall and think about the challenge, instead bitch, moan and fight, they would have done much better.

"Alright, let's gather around again!" TJ announced once the challenge was over and he knew the order of the teams.

"Seventh place today was..." TJ said.

Haley kept her eyes closed while holding her breath while praying for any higher power.

"Nathan and Haley." He said.

"Fuck!" Nathan yelled as Haley gasped loudly in horror.

"You two will be going automatically to Elimination on Saturday." TJ said. "Sixth place was Peyton and Mouth, fifth place Anna and Jake, fourth Brooke and Chase, third Bevin and Tim. Second today was.... Taylor and Skills. The winners are Rachel and Lucas."

Rachel screamed loudly and jumped up to hug Lucas who high fived his brother with a huge grin.

"So, Rachel and Lucas are immune from the voting on Thursday. The rest will vote the team that will compete against Nathan and Haley after which the Elimination Challenge will be determined. See you all on Thursday."

"Nathan, we need-" Haley started but stopped when Nathan turned to glare at him.

"You need to stay away from me!" he yelled trying to get away from her.

"But-"

"Haley, don't talk to me! Don't look at me! Don't even hang in the same room as me!"

"Fine! Blame it all on me, you jackass!" Haley screamed finally fed up with his attitude.

"It _is _your fault!" he turned around to face her.

"No, it's not!" Haley yelled. "How many teams were able to finish the Challenge without the guy having to pull the girl up?! None! How many teams knew what to do after they saw us do it?! All! We lost because we were first! We lost because we didn't strategize! We lost because we didn't talk!" she screamed.

"Talking and strategizing... That's your answer to everything! Well, those didn't get your ass up on top of that wall! _I_ did!"

Every single camera were pointed at them and the whole cast was looking at the fight with mixed feelings. Some were happy that the attention was on Nathan and Haley and some were worried and almost scared because they had never seen Haley or Nathan so angry before.

Nathan and Haley were surrounded by all the other teams, at least six cameras and sound people. The producers, casting people and other MTV personal were also looking at the fight with much interest.

"Do you seriously think that this game can be won without strategizing?! Without having alliances?! This is not basketball, Nathan! The best team won't win this, the smartest will! This is a game of politics and social status and there's nothing fair about this!"

"So, losing every single challenge and being sent to Elimination will help? Because that's what you are doing!" he yelled.

"Oh, my god! Talking to you is like talking to a brick wall! Seriously, Nathan! Try to use that head of yours for once for something smart! Were you constantly dropped on your head when you were a baby? Or maybe you were elbowed too many times on your face when playing basketball?"

"Haley... Let's go..." Taylor said to Haley when she feared that the fight would get out of hand.

"Not now, Taylor." Haley said through gritted teeth while never taking her eyes off of Nathan's.

"Oh, you think you're so smart for this, huh!" Nathan yelled at Haley. "Why did you even come here if you knew there would be physical challenges?! Seriously, even my 80-year-old grandma could do better than you, and she's in a fucking wheelchair!" Nathan screamed.

"Nathan, calm down..." Lucas said to his brother.

"Yeah, why don't we all just-" Taylor tried.

"Shut up!" they both screamed simultaneously at Taylor and Lucas. They turned to glare at each other again.

"At least they're agreeing on that..." Rachel mumbled.

"You need to change your attitude towards people!" Haley yelled to Nathan.

"And you need to change your attitude towards the game! You can't give up! Ever!"

"Stop making a big deal out of everything! The only reason we were sent to Elimination today was because we were the first and we didn't know what to do until we were in the middle of the challenge!" Haley yelled.

"Haley, if you wanna win the game, you need to step it up! You gotta wanna win! I'm not kidding!" Nathan said seriously.

"And I'm not kidding when I say that I'm not planning on being miserable because of you for the next 8 weeks, listening to you bitch and moan about every fucking thing!"

"Well, sometimes you have to make some sacrifices to win! Sometimes you gotta suffer a little to get what you want! Sometimes in order to win, it takes a little misery!" he yelled remembering all the countless killer practises he had endured and how good he had felt after winning the state title.

"Don't talk about suffering and sacrifices to me, Nathan! You don't know what I've been through, you don't even know me!"

"I know your type exactly!" Nathan yelled with a laugh. "You're a spoiled, naive little girl who knows nothing about real life and what it takes to succeed!" Nathan said.

Haley glared at her angrily before starting with her rant.

"You can't accept the fact that you could be wrong or that something's your fault! Grow a pair and for once take responsibility of your own actions! You're an egotistical, narcissistic dumb jock with a serious emotional problem! I mean, my god! Do you really think you'll ever get a girl to stay with you for more than one night?!" Haley yelled.

"You're so useless in the challenges that sometimes I wonder if you even wanna be here?!"

"Trust me, if I didn't wanna be here I'd find a way to get us kicked out! And let's just say that you wouldn't leave this place without a bruised face." Haley said. "Try to grow up, Nathan! You're acting like a 5-year-old who can't admit he's wrong!"

"Well at least I'm not spoiled! Everything I have, everything I've got? I've earned it all! You've gotta fight for what you want! But I bet you know nothing about things getting rough! You get everything handed to you!"

"Don't lecture me about-" Haley yelled feeling her emotions starting to take over. She could feel her throat tightening. "Just shut up! You don't know anything about me!" She yelled and cursed herself silently when she felt her eyes water.

"Ow, did I hit a rough spot?" Nathan asked sarcastically with mixed feelings.

He was more than happy to be winning the argument and it was not easy to stop throwing the insults but seeing her starting to lose it, was no fun.

"Shut up!" she screamed and wiped the one rolling tear away angrily. "Just shut up!"

"_You_ shut up!"

"Okay, that's enough!" Taylor yelled and started to drag Haley away.

"Nathan, we're leaving." Lucas said determined.

Without looking at each other, their siblings dragged Nathan and Haley away, to separate vans.

"Haley..." Taylor started.

"Don't even start, Taylor." Haley said with an angry, shaky voice. "If the next words out of your mouth are anything positive about Nathan, I'm never talking to you again. I'm not kidding, so don't test me."

"Fine, but you dug your own grave." Taylor said holding her hands in the air in surrender.

"It was dug the minute I was partnered up with him." Haley said.

Brooke, Peyton and few other teams fell all silent in the van, not knowing what to say or do. They all had heard the awful things Haley had said to Nathan but they all had also heard what Nathan had said to her. Everyone agreed that they both had been wrong and had thrown punches way below the belt.

"Nathan..." Lucas started once they were sitting in the other van, on their way back to their resort.

"Stop it, Luke!" Nathan exploded. "I know you like her but I don't! I hate her! I cannot stand her! And if you take her side in this, I will disown you as my brother!"

"Fine, I just think that Haley and you-"

"Don't even say her name!" Nathan yelled and turned to look at the rest of the group in the van, most of them guys. "If any of you as much as says her name in my presence, I will literally make your life a living hell here! And that's a fucking promise!"

The guys looked at each other with worried looks but didn't say anything.

* * *

The rest of the night Haley spent outside hanging out with her sister, Brooke and Peyton. No one dared to mention Nathan's name to her, instead they tried to keep the conversation light.

The minute Nathan had come back to the house, he had stormed to the kitchen and taken out the vodka bottle. After slamming two shots angrily down his throat, he grabbed the whole bottle and headed outside.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw Haley sitting outside and hanging out with her friends. They all turned to stare at him when they heard the door open.

Haley scoffed when she saw the bottle of vodka in his hands.

"Having a fun night, Boozy?"

"Fuck off, whore." He snapped before heading back inside.

"I hope you die!" she yelled back as he slammed the door shut.

"That was kinda harsh..." Bevin muttered.

Everyone turned to look at Bevin like she was crazy. Peyton shook her head fast with wide eyes as if trying to yell 'SHUT UP NOW' as Brooke sighed deeply, knowing it was too late. Taylor looked between Haley and Bevin worried.

Haley turned to glare at Bevin with a look that could freeze a bottle of water in Sahara. Bevin hugged Skills tighter as if trying to seek protection.

"I mean, it was harsh from him." Bevin said quickly. "He shouldn't call you a whore."

"I really don't care what he thinks of me." Haley said. "So, who wants to play cards?"

"Me!" they all yelled at the same time, not wanting to anger her again.

Nathan, who had just stormed back inside, made his way to the living room. He flopped down on the couch and took another angry swig from the bottle while closing his eyes and starting to take deep breaths to calm himself down. Lucas, who had gone upstairs to change, came down the stairs and stopped to look at his brother.

"Nath-"

"Go away!" Nathan barked never even opening his eyes or letting Lucas finish his sentence.

He was still so angry and agitated and talking to someone about his feelings was the last thing he needed or wanted. Lucas, knowing this, just nodded his head and left him alone. He knew that Nathan needed his own time and space to blow off the steam.

Even though Nathan said that he couldn't care less about Haley, Lucas knew that it wasn't true. Neither Nathan nor Haley wouldn't have reacted so strongly if they didn't care. They had just started the whole thing the wrong way and just needed some time apart to cool down and see things more clearly.

Nathan took another angry sip from his bottle still keeping his eyes closed. He let out an angry huff.

He opened his eyes when he felt the weight on the couch shift. He turned to look at Rachel who was sitting about two inches from him with a sexy smirk on her face.

"Hi, there." She purred.

"Hey." Nathan said.

His voice wasn't friendly but it wasn't cold either. He looked down at the revealing tube top and the short skirt she was wearing and smirked. Rachel, who was obviously enjoying his eyes roaming her body, licked her lips slowly.

"Having a rough day?" she asked.

"I don't wanna talk." Nathan snapped.

"Talking wasn't what I was planning on doing." She said with a grin while standing up. "I was thinking of taking a shower. Wanna join me?"

Nathan, looking at her body once more, weighted his options. He didn't really care for her that much after seeing her lust over his brother but he couldn't deny that she wasn't hot, in that skanky, whorish sort of way.

He knew that Rachel had absolutely nothing to offer except for the physical aspect, but the realization that it was exactly what he needed, was enough to make his decision.

"No talking, no cuddling." Nathan said.

"I can live with that." Rachel said with a grin, as Nathan took one more swig from the bottle before following her upstairs.

* * *

A while later Haley, who had noticed that it was getting cold outside, had excused herself and went upstairs to get a hoodie. She rummaged through her closet until she found one. At the same time as she opened her door to go back to the hallway, another door opened.

Haley looked back and noticed a towel-clad Rachel emerge from the steamy bathroom and walk to the end of the hallway to her room. Not thinking more about it, Haley closed her door and started to head back to her friends. When she had gotten one step down, she heard the bathroom door open again.

Haley turned to stare towards the bathroom in confusion which was when she noticed Nathan who had a towel wrapped around his waist. His hair was wet and it was more than obvious that he had just had sex with Rachel. Nathan was about to close the door when he noticed Haley at the end of the hallway, clutching to her sweatshirt.

They both stared at each other for a while, not saying anything. Nathan looked like he had been caught his hand in the cookie jar and Haley felt like her insides were about to explode. Neither realized or understood why they felt that way and it confused them beyond anything.

They both snapped out of their weird feelings when they remembered that they were supposed to hate each other.

"What the hell are you looking at?!" Nathan snapped.

"Man-whore in action!" Haley said clapping her hands sarcastically. "Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Nathan Scott!"

"Oh, shut up! You've probably never even had sex, nerd. I don't think they teach that at Stanford!"

"Pipe it, Scott." Haley snapped. "Or do we have to have the whole 'you don't know anything about me' conversation again?"

"And end up with you in tears? Think you can handle it again?" Nathan asked sarcastically.

"Oh, I can handle it, assface. But can you handle the fact that the only reason Rachel would sleep with you is because your brother won't? The story of your life, huh! I mean, you _do_ realize that she's been after Lucas the entire time, right?" Haley asked.

"Shut up!"

"Oh, am _I_ hitting the sore spot now? You must be used to girls getting to your brother through you. And no wonder. He's smarter, better looking and nicer. And newsflash Nathan... Girls actually like nice guys." She said whispering the last part like it was some big secret.

"I don't care what you think." He said. "And I don't care what she thinks. It was casual sex. Nothing more, nothing less. And at least I'm getting some!"

"Yeah, like that's something to brag about." Haley snorted. "In case you haven't noticed, girls don't really have a problem getting some if they choose to want it. I mean, take Rachel for example. She wanted sex and she got it. You were just the little toy she used."

"Do you honestly think I give a damn about anything? I don't care what she thinks and I sure as hell don't care what you think. And what's with the sudden interest in my love life? Jealous, perhaps?"

"You're confusing sarcasm and jealousy, Nathan. But I shouldn't be surprised, I mean, let's face it, we all know that you're not the sharpest pencil in the cup."

"And so you're back to the 'Nathan's dumb' comments. Got nothing new? It's kinda getting boring, Haley."

"As is this conversation." Haley said dryly.

"Whatever. Like I said, I really don't care what you of all people think."

"Hope you used protection." She said with a sarcastic snarl.

"Hope you die!" he yelled.

"Right back at ya, fucker!" Haley yelled.

"You just can't quit, huh!" Nathan yelled. "How many people in your life have you managed to push away with that attitude? How many people have left you?"

There was an uncomfortable, heavy silence when she just stared at him, not knowing whether to yell, cry or laugh. She had finally reached her breaking point.

"You know what?" Haley said in a tired, small, dead voice. "I'm done with you. _Done_."

During the short silence, Nathan actually wondered whether he had gone too far. He was about to say something when Haley spoke again in a voice so calm, quiet and empty that it actually scared Nathan.

A loud, mean and angry Haley was scary but that quiet, cold, calm voice really freaked him out.

"I'm done. As far as I'm concerned, you don't exist to me." She said quietly enunciating every word so he wouldn't miss it.

"Right back at ya." Nathan said in a cold, emotionless voice that matched hers, finally getting sick of all the yelling and fighting. "After we leave Mexico, I really don't care if I ever see you again. In fact, I really hope I never even hear from you."

"I couldn't agree more." Haley said calmly and took in a deep breath.

"Good."

Haley looked at him for few seconds in silence and then laughed bitterly.

"You know, I never ever thought I'd feel this much hatred towards anyone and I never thought I'd actually say this..." Haley said as her voice quieted down to almost a whisper. "But I really, really hate you."

"I feel exactly the same."

They looked at each other with those cold, tired, hurt and exhausted eyes, waiting for the other to speak first but their problem was that they were too much alike; too stubborn, too proud and too opinionated.

They stared at each other for the longest time, both knowing that they had gone too far with their fighting and insulting.

At the beginning of the challenger their fighting had been entertaining, sarcastic and almost exciting for them. When you hang out 24/7 with the same people, it tends to get a bit boring but their fighting kept them on edge and they both had to admit that the other's comebacks were always strong, good and almost hilarious.

But now, with the emotional toll of a third failed challenge, both of them were just sick of it. No one liked to lose.

Still staring at Nathan, Haley blinked. When it was obvious that neither would speak, they both turned around and walked to different directions, slamming their doors shut at the same time.

* * *

_Yeah, Nathan and I won't be buddies for a while._

_This whole thing is getting out of hand. I've never fought with someone as much I do with him and no one's ever talked to me the way he talks to me. Okay, so I admit that I threw some below the belt punches but so did he!_

_The thing is that I really don't know how to go on from here. Obviously they're not gonna let us change partners and both of us want that money too bad to quit now. But it's getting to the point of being unbearable! I just wish there was some way we could go back to the first day and see what went wrong, you know._

_Oh, and apparently Nathan had sex with Rachel. And for some reason it bothers me. And I don't know why! And it bothers me that it bothers me! Crazy, huh._

_Go figure._

* * *

_Okay, so Haley and I had a teeny, weeny fight earlier. She yelled at me, I yelled at her. It's getting to the point where we both just throw as many insults as possible just to hurt the other. I never thought I'd ever be this mean to anyone but she just manages to bring the nasty side out of me._

_But she's no angel either! Check the tapes, she can be a real bitch. Too bad they won't let us change partners 'cause I'm running out of ideas._

_Each challenge we've fought more and more and done worse and worse. It's like the more we fight, the worse we do. And now we have to go to Elimination and we might get sent home. We're truly at the lowest of lows now, drowning, and I have no idea how to get back up to the surface again._

_The fight we had right after the Challenge and also later that night was pretty intense. I don't think I've ever seen anyone so angry before. The fight left me all angry and agitated. Usually when I feel like that, like after I lose a game, I need to blow off some steam so I go to the gym or running or something._

_This time that 'something' was Rachel. She was throwing herself at me once again and this time I said yes. The sex was... sex. Don't know how else to describe it. Luckily she's not one of those clingy types and she realized that it was only casual and a one time thing. _

_When we were walking out of the shower, Haley saw us. There was this weird, short silence when she just looked at me like... like she was about to get sick. And I don't know why but when I first saw her at the end of that hallway, my initial feeling was guilt. Twisted thing, huh. I mean, why would I feel guilty about hooking up with Rachel? And why would Haley feel sick about it?_

_

* * *

  
_

_I have no idea what's gonna happen next with Nathan and I. So far we just haven't gotten the grip of things and we've sucked and I really do fear that no matter which team gets voted in against us on Thursday, they will win us._

_We need to get it together and start winning but I really have no idea how. I'll be damned though if I'm the one that has to take the initiative. Nuhhuh. I'm done trying to fix things._

_

* * *

  
_

_Haley and I need to get our shit together and win that fucking Elimination but I seriously don't think we're gonna be able to communicate without wanting to rip each other's head off. But I sure as hell won't be the one to bring it up._

* * *

AN: so there we go. Any thoughts? Ideas? What was good about the story, what was bad?

Oh, and a small poll: who do you think was the meaner person: **Haley or Nathan**? I tried to write them equally mean but I'm not sure if it turned out that way. :) So, let me know what you think.

-Fes-


	8. Chapter 7: The Turning Point

AN: Heya everyone! I'm back with an update. It's not as long as my normal chappies but I think many of you will like this chapter more than the previous drama-filled chapters. :) If I'm right, leave a review. If I'm not, leave a review and tell me so. :)

* * *

Quote of the day: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Angel: "I started the soul-having before it was the cool thing."

Buffy: "My god, what are you, twelve?"

* * *

**Chapter 7. The Turning Point.**

Week 3.

_After the big fight Nathan and I had, we spent the next two days avoiding each other, as we had promised. I still can't believe all the horrible things he said to me... Okay, so I wasn't the nicest girl either and I said some things I wish I could take back. _

_But it doesn't work like that. We made our bed, now we gotta lie on it. Eww, I mean, not "lie together" lie. I meant, lie as in, you know. Okay, wrong metaphor. _

_But you know what I mean. And so does Nathan. I can see it in his eyes that he knows we went too far the other day and that unless we wanna go home on Saturday, we need to have a serious conversation. And I'm fine with that! _

_You know, as long as he's the one who makes the first move._

_

* * *

_

_It's been two days since the Challenge. Two days since we had the big fight. I'm sure that they'll use that clip when promoting the show and all. Whatever, I don't care._

_Even though we had the worst fight so far, I think it also scared us a bit. I mean, we haven't really talked after the whole day at all. No sarcastic, snappy comments or anything. I think we've both realized that there's a very big chance that we won't make it till the end. We've been so caught up in fighting that we've forgotten the actual reason for being here. Having fun and winning that 200 grand._

_I'm pretty sure that Haley also figured out that we need to do something about our situation. Because if we don't, we're gonna go home on Saturday. And there's no changing that. No matter who we're up against._

_Now it's just a matter of time and which one is more mature and has the balls to make the first move and just apologize and call a truce. Won't be me!_

* * *

"Haley, you need to talk to Nathan. It's been two days now."

"Taylor, I'm not the one who's gonna make the first move. No way." Haley said stubbornly for the hundreth time that day.

She was cooking dinner in the kitchen while Taylor sat on the counter, grilling her about Nathan.

"You two need to talk!" Taylor insisted while picking her nails bored. "The voting is in few hours."

"So? We're already going to Elimination." Haley said while stirring the pot full of pasta with a wooden spoon.

"You should care!" Taylor exclaimed. "You might have to go home! Sometimes I wonder if you even wanna be here."

"Tay, I don't wanna go home. I would've ended this torture a looong time ago if I didn't wanna be here."

"But if you two don't communicate, you can't win." She said.

"We're doing the best we can." Haley muttered.

"No, you're not." Taylor said.

"We are doing the best we can considering the circumstances."

"Which are...?"

"The fact that we can't stand each other."

"That's not enough!" she exploded. "You need to stay in this game until the end with me! We need to win that money! Or have you forgotten why we're here?!"

Haley looked around concerned before glaring at her sister.

"I mean-" Taylor started with a lower voice, worried that someone might've heard her.

"Look, Taylor." Haley said slamming the spoon on the counter. "You've been harassing me about Nathan for the past two days. Give it a rest, it's not gonna happen."

"Fine."

"Besides, weren't I supposed to cook _with_ you, not _for_ you." Haley asked with a grin, wanting to change the subject.

"I'm cooking." Taylor said defensively. "Well, at least watching and learning."

"Go see if people are hungry. There's enough to feed the entire city."

"Yeah, I'll go ask." She said hopping off of the counter. She was about to open the door that led to the backyard but she turned to look at Haley. "I'm only gonna say this one more time so bear with me."

"Ok." Haley said with a sigh while turning to look at her sister, knowing exactly what she would say next.

"You two need to get your shit together." Taylor said with a serious voice. "If you don't, you're gone. Both of you."

"I know..." Haley said with a sigh.

"Then go change things!" Taylor said with a frustrated voice. "I need you here! If you're gone, there's a worse chance that we're gonna win the money. Together we can do this!"

"Tay, it's not that simple." Haley said quietly while stirring the pasta slowly.

"Yes, it is!" she exploded. "It _is_ that simple!"

Haley looked at her for a second before turning to cook again.

"Go see if people are hungry." Haley said, clearly wanting to end the discussion.

"Fine. It just might be your last supper." She mumbled while leaving the kitchen and Haley by herself.

Haley stirred the pasta sauce absentmindedly. The past few days had been a first in many fields. She had never been so confused, hurt and upset in her life. Another adjective popped into her mind, one that confused her beyond anything. Yes, she was hurt. Yes, she was confused. But more than any of the before mentioned feelings?

Haley was bored.

She was so bored that she was starting to invent games in her head that she could play with the others. And she normally hated games. She was so bored that she could have stuck cocktail umbrellas under her eye lids just for curiosity's sake. She was so bored that she wanted to grab the pasta spoon and go beat the crap out of someone, anyone, just to have something to do. _Anything_ to do.

It was week three in Mexico and even though her life had become painfully dull, what was even more painful was the reason for her sudden boredom.

Haley sighed as she realized how twisted her life had become in the past few days. She missed fighting with Nathan. She missed Nathan.

* * *

Later that day...

"Hello, Newbies and welcome to the 3rd Voting."

TJ Lavin, the host of the show, looked around the living room where 7 teams where hunched together, whispering to one another and making last minute decisions.

"Haley and Nathan lost the Challenge so they will face the team that gets the most votes from the others. Lucas and Rachel won the last Challenge so they are the only team that is Immune from Voting." TJ explained. "Everything clear?"

"Yeah..." people muttered.

"Ok, let's start the Voting then." TJ said and looked at the group on the far right. "Taylor and Skills?"

"Anna and Jake." Skills said. "We wanna vote the weakest team but since I'm not gonna vote my friend Mouth, it's gonna be Anna and Jake."

"Me too." Taylor said.

"Ok, that's two votes for Anna and Jake." TJ said and looked at the next team. "Peyton and Mouth?"

"We're voting Anna and Jake also. It's either us or them." Peyton said looking at Jake with an apologetic look.

"4 votes Anna and Jake." TJ said and looked at Anna and Jake that were next. "Your votes?"

"Peyton and Mouth." Anna said while Jake nodded.

"That's two votes Peyton and Mouth, four votes Anna and Jake." TJ said. "Rachel and Lucas?"

"Peyton and Mouth." Rachel said.

"Same." Lucas mumbled.

"It's four and four now." TJ said. "Bevin and Tim?"

"Anna and Jake." Bevin said not wanting to vote Skills' best friend in.

"Four votes Peyton and Mouth, six votes Anna and Jake. Brooke and Chase?"

"Well, I'm gonna vote the weakest team after Nathan and Haley, but since I'm not voting my buddy Peyton, it's gonna be the team after them. Anna and Jake." Brooke said.

"And I'm not voting Jake, so it's gonna be Peyton and Mouth." Chase said.

"With the total of seven votes, Anna and Jake will go to Elimination against Haley and Nathan." TJ said.

Haley and Nathan, who had been sitting the entire time quiet in the opposite sides of the room, glanced at each other worried. Anna and Jake were definitely a tough team. They were fast, strong and smart. Haley sighed sadly, anticipating the end for her and Nathan.

"Now we will determine the Elimination Challenge." TJ said taking the small bag that had the different coins that each said one challenge. "As you know there are seven coins left and each mean a certain Elimination Challenge. Out of those seven coins there are two Free Pass coins left. If you get that, there'll be no Elimination that week. Haley and Nathan, since you lost the Challenge, you will get to pick one coin from the bag."

Neither Nathan nor Haley stood up from the couch, instead continuing to stare at each other with expressionless looks.

"Do it." Haley said.

"No. You do it."

"No."

Without another word they turned to stare at TJ to see what he would do.

"Okaaaay..." he trailed off and offered the bag to Anna and Jake. "Pick a coin."

Anna and Jake looked at each other quickly.

"Wanna do it?" Jake asked.

"I don't know..." Anna said. "You?"

"I don't-"

"For god's sakes, people!" Rachel snapped. "Just pick the damn coin! _Any_ coin!"

"Fine." Anna said and put her hand in the bag.

A second later she picked up a big golden coin and looked at it more carefully to read the encryption.

"What does it say?" Jake asked.

"Free Pass!" Anna screamed and jumped up to hug Jake.

TJ took the coin from Anna, examined it and then showed it Nathan and Haley. Nathan grabbed it from him and looked at it. He then let out a huge sigh of relief when he realized that there would be no Elimination for them, at least that week.

They had gotten lucky again.

As everyone started to pile out of the living room, TJ stayed behind and looked at Nathan and Haley.

"Team Green, can I have a word, please?" he said.

Nathan and Haley looked at each other briefly as if trying to ask if the other knew what TJ wanted. They sat down slowly back on the couch.

They both noticed right away the absence of any cameras. Whatever TJ and MTV wanted to tell them, they obviously wanted only them to know.

"Are you two alright?" TJ asked once it was literally only them three in the room.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nathan snapped getting tired of everyone trying to get him and Haley to get along.

"What I saw after the last Challenge worried me. The level of hostility and hatred you two seem to have goes beyond anything we've ever seen before and quite frankly it's worrying some of the producers."

"So? You can't make us get along!" Haley said annoyed.

"Exactly! What we do is our business!" Nathan said. "Besides, isn't this exactly the kind of drama you guys want?"

"Yeah!" Haley chimed in.

TJ almost laughed at Nathan and Haley who were sitting next to each other on the couch, both wearing the same intimidating, annoyed glares on their faces.

"I can see why you would think so but MTV sets an example for the younger audiences. And they also realize that they cannot change people or the way they behave but with the direction your team is going, it probably won't even be an issue for too long." TJ said. "Which is why I'm just gonna say this once: you two need to get your act together."

Both Nathan and Haley rolled their eyes when they heard the sentence they'd heard so many times before from Taylor and Lucas.

"You two make a good team and with some communication and co-operation, you could be a strong team. After way too many seasons of hosting this show, I know when I see a group that's about to break down completely and lose the game. So, trust me when I say that you two need to have a talk."

"Is that it?" Nathan asked in a less hostile voice but still alarmed while grabbing a coke from the table and opening it.

"Yeah." TJ said and stood up. He started to walk away but turned around to face them one more time. "This is the third time you two have gotten lucky. How long do you think it's gonna last?"

As soon as he left, the camera man came in the room. Haley and Nathan looked at each other with frowns when TJ was gone.

"Unbelievable!" Nathan snorted.

"Can you believe that?" Haley asked more from herself than from him.

"How friggin' difficult is it for everyone to leave us alone?!" Nathan wondered out loud.

"I know!" she said. "They should mind their own business. Taylor has been breathing down my neck for the past two days!"

"Lucas too! I swear to god I'm gonna flip out soon and it won't be pretty." Nathan said and took a big sip from his coke.

"Oh, I know exactly what you mean." Haley said. "If I hear Taylor say one more time _'you've gotta talk to him, Haley' _I'm gonna get very violent with her." She said mimicking her sister's voice.

When he heard Haley's perfect imitation off her sister, he swallowed some coke and started to laugh at the same time which made the coke come back up, through his nose. Haley saw that and burst out laughing.

"And how about the '_you need to get your shit together_' –speech." Nathan said mimicking Lucas.

"I know!" Haley yelled with a grin and then mimicked her sister's voice again. "_'Because if you don't get it together'_-"

"-_'you're out of this show'_!" Nathan finished in Lucas' voice.

They both burst out into a loud, hysterical laughter. Haley tried her best to catch her breath but had a hard time because of laughing so hard.

When their laughter started to die out, so did their smiling faces, until they were both staring at each other with solemn looks.

"They're both right, aren't they?" Haley asked with a quiet voice, referring to their siblings.

"Yeah..." Nathan said sighing.

There was an awkward silence when both avoided the other's gaze.

"I think we need to talk, Nathan." Haley finally said in a serious voice.

"I know..." he said while running his hand through his hair.

"I..." Haley stuttered not knowing how to even start. "The past three weeks have been..."

"Different?" Nathan suggested.

"To say the least, yeah." Haley said with a smile and took a deep breath before continuing. "Look, I'm not gonna try to justify anything or say that I'm the only one who's been wrong. I just think this whole feud started from the smallest, stupidest argument ever and it just escalated into this huge rivalry where neither of us can back off any more."

"Yeah, and there have been too many misunderstandings along the way which have just made everything even worse."

"I know and no matter how much we can't stand our siblings' whiny attitude, we both know they're right."

"Yep." Nathan said with a sigh. "And we do need to do something about this... I don't wanna go home."

"Me neither." Haley said. "Look, the way I see our problem is that we have two different approaches."

"Yeah?"

"I think that we should concentrate on planning and strategizing..." Haley started.

"And I think that we should be physically better." Nathan concluded.

"Look, Nathan." Haley started. "We both know that I'm not as strong or fast as you are and you can't seriously expect that from me. I'm not a guy. Hell, I'm not even an athlete. I can't promise you that I'm gonna be able to finish all the challenges as well as Taylor or Brooke or Rachel but what I can promise is that I'm gonna give it my all." Haley said looking at him sincerely.

"I will never quit or give up and I promise that I'm gonna kick some major ass in every single puzzle that comes our way but it doesn't mean that I don't need your help in the challenges. Cause I do." Haley finished.

"And I'll help you the best I can." Nathan said. "I just need you to do your best."

"I will. But you should know that I don't work that well under pressure." Haley said. "So, I need you to back off and not breathe down my neck if you think I'm not doing good enough." Haley said carefully.

Nathan nodded his head, glad that she had told him that.

"I promise I'll be nothing but supportive. And you should know that I do like the screaming and cheering. Gets me pumped up." He said flexing his bicep jokingly.

"I'll be your little cheerleader, no worries." Haley said with a small laugh but then quieted down. "Ok, I need to ask you something that's been bothering me for weeks now."

"Shoot."

"Why have you been so... ignorant with every challenge or voting? It's like you don't stress about it or even care what happens. I mean, you obviously wanna be here, otherwise you would've quit a long time ago..."

"It's not that I don't care, because I do care about being. I wanna win this! We're _gonna_ win this! The reason why I haven't been bouncing off the walls like you is because I don't think there has been any reason to."

"Huh?" Haley asked confused.

"For example at the last voting when you were stressing that we'd get voted in and you had this big scheme to get Skills' vote... I was thinking 'so what'. Because even if we had been voted in, we would've been competing against Tim and Bevin who we could beat any day."

Haley looked at Nathan surprised that he had so much faith in them as a team.

"You really think so?" Haley asked.

"Totally. There's not a single team out there we can't beat. We just need to start working as a team instead two individuals."

"And I promise to do my best and listen to you more." Haley said.

"Me too. And I'll help you as much as possible." Nathan said. "Except with the puzzles. You're on your own with those demons."

"Gotcha." Haley laughed.

They both laughed again and looked at each other, this time with softer looks.

"So, does this mean we're like friends?" Haley asked.

"Oh, hell no!" Nathan joked.

"Good, 'cause I still think you're annoying."

"Right back at ya, partner." Nathan said with a grin and offered his fist towards her.

She looked at him with a smirk and bumped her own small fist against his.

"Wanna go mess with Tay and Luke? A little payback for their annoying whining." Nathan asked with a boyish, innocent grin that reminded Haley of a 8-year-old seeking trouble.

"Oh, totally." Haley said while getting up and starting to walk towards the back yard where everyone was.

"Let's pretend to fight again. We'll do the whole screaming and yelling thing." Nathan said excited and then turned to give her a small smile. "I've kinda missed yelling with you."

Haley noticed with a smile that he said fighting _with_ her instead fighting _at_ her. It was exactly how she felt too. It's not like either of them missed the insults or the mean comments but for so many weeks, screaming at each other had been the only means of communications they had.

"Me too! It's been kinda boring the last couple of days."

"I know. And Lucas has definitely not been any help."

"Or Taylor."

"So, we're running back where everyone is and we'll fake fight?"

"Ooh! And I'll fake slap you but you'll slap your hands together so it'll look and sound totally real." Haley said with an excited gleam in her eyes.

"Whoa!" Nathan said laughing. "You done this before?"

"Oh, we used to freak out our parents all the time when we were kids." Haley said once they made it to kitchen door that led outside. "You can push me in the pool."

"Haha, sounds like fun. You ready?" Nathan asked with a grin while holding the door.

"Yep, let's do this." She said as they stepped outside where the rest of the group where. "Oh, my god! I can't believe you, Nathan! You're such an ass!"

Nathan was about to burst out laughing at the angry, real voice but decided to play along as promised.

"Oh, come on, Haley! You can't be serious! You're the one who's been acting like a PMSing psycho chick for the last 3 weeks!" he yelled as serious and angry as possible.

The whole cast and crew was watching them. Taylor and Lucas sighed once again as they saw their siblings fight while the rest of the cast was glad that they weren't getting along because it affected their game so much. They all saw Team Green as a sinking ship.

"Me?! You're such a jerk, Nathan! You always have to blame it on me! Like everything's my fault! Well, guess what?! It's not!" she screamed but winked at Nathan.

They were now next to the pool, screaming at the top of their lungs.

"Newsflash, Haley! Everything _is_ your fault! So, why don't you go find a book and leave me alone!"

Haley gasped loudly and raised her hand in the air. Nathan gave her a quick smirk before nodding his head, telling her to do it. Haley slapped Nathan, or that's what it looked like. Right before her hand touched his face, Nathan jerked his head to the side, like he had been hit while slapping his hands together.

Everyone gasped out loud as they thought Haley had slapped Nathan. A second later, Nathan pushed Haley in the pool who managed to grab him with her before hitting the water. They both came up for the surface at the same time, trying to dunk and soak the other one. To the rest of the cast, it looked like they were physically fighting in the water.

"Hales, what ar-" Taylor screamed but stopped in mid sentence when she realized that Haley was laughing, not crying like she initially thought.

"What the..." Lucas mumbled while looking at the two hysterical people who were having a hard time breathing because of laughing so hard.

"Did they swallow too much chlorine?" Bevin mumbled to Skills who was looking at the couple in the water with a smirk.

"Are they insane?" Peyton asked sitting up in her beach chair while taking a better look at the laughing duo.

"I think they've both been in the sun for too long." Brooke mumbled uninterested while continuing her sunbathing without as much as a glance their way.

"What the hell is going on?" Taylor asked in confusion.

"Relax, sis." Haley said while trying to catch her breath. "It's all good."

"Nathan, wanna explain?" Lucas asked motioning at Haley and Nathan who had swam to the side of the pool where Taylor and Lucas were standing.

"Dude, relax. All of you, relax." Nathan said and looked at everyone. "Yeah, the drama and fighting around here, also known as the Nathan-Haley –feud... is over!"

"So, I hope you enjoyed the show for as long as it lasted." Haley said looking around at the teams.

"Because no longer are we focusing on destroying each other. So, enjoy your stay here for as long as it lasts 'cause we're here for the long haul. Team Green!" Nathan yelled and high fived Haley before they both burst out laughing again.

Haley put her arms on the side of the pool and tried to lift herself off. She tried a few times and watched in jealousy as Nathan basically jumped from the pool, no problems what so ever. _He makes it look so easy._

Nathan stood up and reached down to grab Haley's hands. Before she had time to even reach out to him, he had already lifted her easily off the pool.

"Hey, you hungry? I'm starving." he said as they started to head out towards the kitchen entrance.

"You're always hungry, Nathan."

"Did you just call me fat?"

"Well, you do eat like horse."

"I have to eat a lot 'cause I work out a lot."

"Are you sure it's not the other way around? That you work out because you eat so much?"

"Hey, I resent your implications! Besides, if anyone should be eating, it's you, Twiggy."

"You obviously haven't seen my midnight snack fests with Tay. Haven't you noticed the lack of peanut butter and pop tarts in the house?"

"That was you?! Jeez!"

"What? I was hungry and lazy! They were on the lowest shelf. Easy access."

"Once again athletically challenged, huh."

"Oh, whatever, at least I know how to cook, Mr. Microwave Dinner."

The whole group watched in silence as the two went back inside the kitchen, their loud laughter and friendly bickering echoing throughout the pool area.

Taylor turned to stare at Lucas who still had his mouth open in shock at the new development.

"So, apparently you can try to take them away from the fights but you can't take the fights away from them." Taylor said.

"At least they're not hostile or mean anymore." Lucas said as he walked back to the basketball court.

"Yeah, now they're flirtatious." she mumbled to herself.

Taylor stared at the laughing duo through the kitchen window and immediately recognized the flirtatious banter on their features.

Taylor wasn't jealous that they were getting along or even at the possible thought of them actually liking each other. She was worried about her sister. She had witnessed first hand the amount of suffering Haley had endured when she had supposedly hated him and had her walls built around her. How much would she suffer if she actually did lower those walls and something still went wrong with Nathan? As if she hadn't suffered enough for a lifetime.

Taylor shuddered under the hot sun.

"I think liked them better when they were fighting."

* * *

AN: Yay, finally peace! :)

So, thoughts on the chapter? When I was writing this, I kept going over and over in my head whether they should make up like this or maybe in "smaller dozes". I thought that it happened too fast and too easy for them, I mean just last chapter (3 days earlier in the story) they were basically hoping the other one would die a slow, painful death. But then I realized that they're both two highly emotional and not to even mention bored people and I kinda imagined them that they'd feel like losing the weight of their shoulders with the make up which is why it happened so fast.

So, to anyone who thinks the make up happened too fast? Trust me, I did wonder about it too but in the end, they both knew they were wrong and wanted to make up. Besides, they're still bickering but only in a friendly manner. And just because they're getting along now, doesn't mean they will in the next chapter. :D

Heehee, so what do you think? **Did it happen too fast?**

-Fes-**  
**


	9. Chapter 8: Anxiety

AN: Thanks for all the nice reviews, they mean the world to me.

This chappie is pretty much foreshadowing all the way. :) Read and review, as always.

* * *

Quote of the day: Will & Grace

Karen (entering Will and Grace's apartment panicked): "Help me. Hide me. She's after me."

Will: "Wh-what's the matter, does your stepdaughter want a hug?"

* * *

**Chapter 8. Anxiety.**

Week 4.

_So, I guess hell __has__ frozen over. Because that's how unlikely it was for Nathan and I to make up and let the bygones be bygones._

_It all started when we lost the previous challenge and we were automatically sent to Elimination. But the weirdest thing happened, we got a Free Pass! So, there was no Elimination last week. Afterwards TJ talked to us, told us we should get over our feud, make up and yada yada yada. _

_Nathan and I had a big talk and we came to an understanding that if we don't get a grip of ourselves, we'll never make it to the end. So, now we're both focused on team work and winning something._

_I wouldn't necessarily call us close friends, but we are getting along. We still bicker a lot but it's not hostile or mean anymore. And Taylor was right! Nathan is pretty nice. Kinda. You know, in that funny, nice sorta way. I mean, I think he's cool. Nice. Very nice. A good guy. A nice guy. A good, nice- Argh, never mind. Shutting up now._

_

* * *

_

_So, I guess you heard the news, huh. Well, who hasn't? I'm so sick and tired of everyone asking questions and butting into our business. So, let me make this Q & A easy!_

_No, Haley and I are no longer fighting. _

_Yes, we are actually getting along for a change. _

_No, we no longer try to destroy each other mentally or physically. _

_No, there's nothing more going on. _

_Yes, we will win this entire thing and that 200 grand. _

_And lastly: YES, I will kick your ass if you ask me or her one more time any of the questions I just answered._

_Got it? Good. Now leave us the fuck alone._

* * *

"…and we should definitely try and be the last team to go so we can see what the others do."

"Yeah, like see their strategy and all."

"Exactly."

It was week 4 and Haley and Nathan were working out in the gym.

"Who do you think is the biggest threat out there?" Haley asked a bit quieter to make sure they had privacy.

"Skills and Taylor, without a doubt." Nathan said.

"Really?" Haley said surprised. "I always thought Lucas and Rachel were stronger because of Lucas' smarts. I mean, I'm not saying that Tay or Skills are dumb or anything. It's just that if it did come between them and there was a puzzle involved, I think Lucas would beat them."

"Yeah, maybe but with this game you never know."

"Yeah, that's true. What do-" Haley started asking but was interrupted when someone came in the room.

"Hey, we got another clue." Chase said from the doorway.

Haley and Nathan followed him to the den where most of the group was.

"Alright, here it goes." Brooke said holding the Sidekick and reading the clue they'd gotten. "Get ready for your fourth Challenge, Newbies. In order to succeed in this Challenge, you must be able to overcome all OBSTACLES. Be ready to leave on Tuesday morning, 9 am." She read and turned to look at the others. "Obstacles is written in all caps."

"Obstacle course." Lucas said and everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

"Sounds like fun." Nathan said with a grin while standing up and walking back towards the gym.

"Sounds like rough." Haley said with a worried look, following him.

"Don't worry. We've got this in the bag." Nathan said reassuringly.

"A bit cocky, don't you think?" Haley asked.

"Just confident." Nathan said while sitting down on the soft floor. "Hold my legs, please."

Haley kneeled in front of him and put her hands around his ankles as he started doing sit ups. She looked at him worried.

Haley didn't like the sound of 'obstacle course' at all. It screamed another physical challenge, which Haley was slowly but surely starting to get sick off. She knew she wasn't weak or slow but she also knew that she wasn't in the best possible physical shape she could've been.

The entire week she had hoped that the challenge would require at least a fraction of puzzle solving or memory skills. She wanted to show Nathan how good and strong she could be. She sighed sadly when she realized that it wouldn't happen yet.

"Whatcha thinking there, partner?" Nathan asked between sit ups when he saw Haley's worried look.

"Huh?" she asked startled. "Just thinking about tomorrow's challenge."

"What's there to think about it? We'll go there, do what they say and kick some ass!"

"Yeah, sounds good..." she said and then continued hesitatingly. "But, I just... I mean, obstacle course sounds really tough and difficult."

Nathan sat up once more and stopped to look at Haley.

"Hey, don't worry about it." he said. "I've got your back."

"Yeah, I know. But what if-" she started.

"Stop right there. We're gonna be fine, got it?" he asked with a grin while going down and continuing his sit ups.

"Yeah, I got it."

"Good. Can you hand me my water bottle?" he asked nudging his head to the bottle that was on the bench.

Haley nodded her head and stood up quickly. As soon as she was standing, she could feel her head starting spin slightly. She quickly grabbed the wall for support.

"You okay?" Nathan asked while jumping up to make sure Haley was okay.

"Yeah, yeah, I just got up too quickly." She said while shaking Nathan's arm off of her shoulder.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, of course." She said and gave him a smile. She rolled her eyes with a smile when Nathan still looked at her worried. "Oh, come on, Nate. You do sports. People get tired, you know that. Stop looking at me like I'm this weak, fragile girl. My blood sugar's just running a bit low and I stood up too quickly, that's all."

"How's that possible when you're hanging out with a guy as _sweet_ as me?" he asked with a wink while starting to push her towards the door.

"Oh, my god? Does that line ever work?" Haley asked with a laugh. "And where the hell are you taking me?"

"To the kitchen and yes, it does work, thanks for asking."

When they got to the kitchen they noticed Taylor, Brooke, Peyton and Lucas hanging out and eating lunch.

"What's up?" Taylor asked when she saw them.

"Nothing." Nathan said while starting to open the cabinets to get the stuff he needed for a milkshake. "Haley's blood sugar's low so I'm making her a milkshake that's sweet enough to put a diabetic into a coma."

Everyone laughed loudly except Taylor who looked at Haley with a stern look. Haley, knowing Taylor's reaction, looked at everyone but her with a forced smile on her face.

"Haley?" Taylor asked. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Haley looked at the rest of the people and few of the cameras before looking at Taylor and shaking her head as if saying 'not now'.

"Now, please?" Taylor asked with a tight voice.

Haley sighed and gave a forced smile to the others who were watching them with raised eyebrows.

"What the hell was that?" Nathan asked when the sisters had left the room.

"I don't know..." Brooke said. "But… Never mind."

"No, what were you gonna say?" Nathan asked.

"I'm sure I'm just being crazy but…" Brooke trailed off but then continued. "Do you ever get this feeling like there's something going on with those two?"

"Yeah!" Peyton said. "I've been wondering that for like a week now but didn't say anything! I just thought the paranoia from this game was getting to me."

"I don't want to speculate or spread any rumors but I've got to agree with you." Lucas said. "I've been hanging out with Haley for almost a month and I barely know anything about her."

"And the knowing looks that they give each other, the whispers…" Peyton added.

"You know what I just realized today when I was on the phone?" Brooke said. "That they never are."

"I haven't seen them on the phone, not even once." Lucas said.

"And they never talk about their family which is kinda odd since it's the only thing that any of us talks about here 'cause we're so goddamm bored." Brooke continued.

"Maybe they're just not that close with their family." Lucas said.

"Or maybe they don't have a family, like their parents are dead or something." Brooke wondered.

"That's kinda harsh, Brooke." Nathan snapped.

"What? I just wanna figure out what's going on."

"Nothing's going on." Nathan snapped, suddenly feeling protective of Haley. Brooke's gossiping reminded Nathan of a vulture circling around its defenceless prey, waiting for the moment of attack.

"Nath-"

"You shouldn't gossip 'cause it'll only spread rumors which causes animosity and I don't know about you guys, but the first three weeks of fighting non-stop kinda filled my quota for the rest of my stay here. So, everyone calm the fuck down!" he said bored while walking away from the room.

"Wow." Peyton said with a small smile as they all looked Nathan walk away. Brooke and Peyton gave each other a knowing smile. It didn't take a genius to realize that Nathan was becoming possessive of Haley, in that cute I-have-a-crush-on-you-and-wanna-protect-you kind of way.

"I don't think I've ever heard him correctly use the words 'animosity' and 'quota' before." Lucas said.

* * *

"What?" Haley hissed from Taylor when they got to their room and away from the others, one camera following them.

"What the hell was that?" Taylor asked motioning towards the kitchen where they had been a moment ago.

Haley nudged her head towards the camera man while glaring at Taylor as if telling her to drop the subject.

"Haley, remember what we talked about." Taylor said.

"I know what you're thinking. Stop it."

"But what if-"

"Tay!" Haley said angrily. "Stop it! _Now_! It's not…" she said trailing off.

"We can't be sure. We made a promise!"

"And no one's breaking it. Stop acting like a psycho before people start asking questions." Haley said and whispered the last words so quiet that Taylor almost missed it.

"Fine. But so help me god if you're wrong…" she mumbled while they walked outside.

"Everything ok?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, of course. Just some sibling stuff." Haley said with a forced smile.

"Good 'cause I need you on your best tomorrow morning." Nathan said while handing her the protein shake, not believing a word she had just said.

"Don't worry, the others won't stand a chance." Haley said with a smile, trying to change the subject.

* * *

_So, the next challenge was an obstacle course like we had thought. It was pretty physical like I feared but we actually did pretty good. Nathan helped me through it all and for once we were communicating. Tay and Skills won once again which I'm very happy about. She's by far the toughest girl here. _

_The last team was Peyton and Mouth who lost to Anna and Jake, who fell at the end, by only few seconds. So, Peyton and Mouth are automatically going to Elimination. They'll face the team that gets chosen at the Voting, which will probably be held in few days._

_About Nathan and I? We are finally at peace. I'm not saying that we'll be having sleepovers or that we'll be sharing our deepest, darkest secrets anytime soon, but we've established some sort of a trust. Like an alliance but more friendly, I guess. _

_We hang out but it's only to talk about the game. It's not like we're best friends or anything. We both still pretty much hang out with our own groups but we are getting to know each other. Feels good to have no drama._

_

* * *

_

_So, the challenge went alright. I mean, I'm not gonna be satisfied until we win but at least we weren't the last or even the second or third last team. Haley and I are getting better. _

_Taylor and Skills won again which is troubling. They're starting to become almost unbeatable. I know Taylor is Haley's sister and all but I hope she realizes that Taylor and Skills need to go eventually. I mean, if they're in the final challenge, the changes of us winning the money will be so much worse._

_But all in all, I'm happy how Haley and I did today as a team. It could've been better but it was much better than I expected. I think we're starting to trust each other more as a team which is making us much stronger. But before you start with the are-you-two-a-couple questions, let me save you the work. No, we're only team mates. I mean for god's sakes we just dropped all the drama shit and started to get along like a week ago. Hold on with the romance theories there!_

_I mean, I barely even know the girl which, to tell you the truth, kinda bothers me. I mean, I couldn't have cared less about her when we were still fighting but now when we're getting along, I would like to know at least something about her. _

_She's very reserved. She never talks about herself or Taylor or their family and I've seen the looks she and Taylor sometimes give each other. It's like there's something so much bigger going on that any of us have any clue. I don't know, it could be nothing. _

_But what if it's not…_

_

* * *

_Nathan was frustrated. He had just come back from his confessional where he was asked about his and Haley's relationship again. _Relationship, _Nathan thought and snorted out loud. He had known her for only a month and had spent a good portion of that time hating her guts. Now, after a week since they reconciled, the producers had been crazy with the love-theories.

As he was lifting weights in the gym and letting his iPod blast the newest rap songs he felt as if he was completely isolated from the rest of the world. He realized that it was exactly what he needed, to have a few hours just for himself and his thoughts.

He didn't enjoy discussing his personal life, especially when it came to girls and dating but he also knew that he had put himself in that position by going on the show. _What people do for money_, he thought and breathed out heavily.

He wasn't even sure why he was being so annoyed with the questions. It wasn't like he hadn't had the same amount or even more questions after he had hooked up with Rachel. But this time was totally different.

After the Rachel thing, it was very easy to tell everyone that it was a one night stand because that's exactly what it was. A one night stand, at least to him. And even if it hadn't been that for Rachel, which he seriously doubted considering the fact that she got around more than he did, he wouldn't have cared because it was only Rachel. _No offence_, Nathan thought half-heartedly.

But there was something different about Haley. _She_ was something different.

Nathan still couldn't quite know where Haley and he stood. They had made up and weren't fighting anymore but that was it. What bothered Nathan the most, was that he couldn't read Haley. Half the time he would find her in her own little world, staring out the window with that deep, slightly worried look on her young face.

He couldn't shake off the feeling that something traumatic had happened to her. He could still vividly remember Taylor's worried voice and troubled expression when she had told him to stop being mean to Haley and she had added _'You don't know what she's been through.' _

The more Nathan thought through the last four weeks the more certain he became that something was definitely going on with the sisters. There were so many little things that when put together, made so much more sense. Like all the times Taylor had been worried about Haley and her health, all the times when he had fought with Haley and he had accused her of not giving her all. Nathan could remember the haunted look on her face when she would say something like _'You don't know me'_.

Nathan suddenly got an unsettling feeling in his stomach when he though about all those things together. _What was going on? Did something happen to Haley? Is she sick? Married? With a kid? With a sick kid? What the hell's going on?_

Nathan was ripped from his own thoughts and concerns when the music he was listening to, suddenly stopped.

Someone had pulled his earbuds off.

"Yo, Scott."

"Jeez, sneaky much?" Nathan said while looking around nervously because of being interrupted from his thoughts and brought back to the "reality". _Or reality TV at least_, Nathan thought.

Nathan took a calming breath and looked at Haley again who was sitting on the same bench as he was, right behind him. She was wearing some random green tank top and girl's surfing shorts, with matching flip flops and a pair of aviator sun glasses that were nestled on the top of her forehead.

"Sup, James?" Nathan said coolly after getting over the shock of Haley pulling him back to the real world.

He hoped to god she couldn't read him and realize that he had just been thinking about her.

"Just talked to Tay and Luke. They wanna party tonight 'cause they did well on the challenge but of course we can't say that to Anna and Jake who almost lost or to Mouth and Peyton who _did_ lose 'cause it'd rude and we want them to party also which could be kinda awkward for them 'cause Peyton and Mouth are automatically going to the Elimination and Anna and Jake might 'cause they were the second to last team. So, hopefully even with the possibility of alcohol involvement, they'll behave but anyways the point is this: party tonight." she said with a smile.

Haley got up from the bench, stuck Nathan's earbuds back in his ears and waved him goodbye before Nathan even had time to say 'ok'.

Nathan stared at the open door with a smirk. That was Haley: fast, social and happy. He would be happy to share the money with her if they would win the whole $200'000. That's to say, they'd even make it to the end.

Nathan rubbed his head when he once again realized that there were still six teams left in addition to him and Haley.

There were Nathan's brother Lucas and his team mate Rachel, both in good condition and with Lucas' smarts, they were a tough competitor even in mental challenges. There were Brooke and Chase, who much like Lucas and Rachel, seemed to be in good physical condition and also smart. The only reason Nathan thought of them of a less of a risk was because Lucas was physically in better shape than Chase.

Then there were Bevin and Tim, who compensated their lack of mental power with physical strength.

To Nathan both Anna and Jake, and Peyton and Mouth were equally threatening. Both teams lacked some skills but had some other ones to keep them in the game. Both teams managed to fly under the radar but still do well enough in the challenges, with the exception of Mouth and Peyton who lost the previous challenge and were facing Elimination.

The final team he hadn't thought of yet was the most troubling to Nathan: Haley's sister Taylor and her partner Skills. Like many other teams, they seemed to have both physical and mental strength but what separated Taylor and Skills from the rest, was their drive and their connection.

It was the look in their faces when they were competing together that worried Nathan. There was some sort of passion and power in them, especially in Taylor. It was similar to what Nathan had seen in professional athletes' eyes. He couldn't quite describe it but it was like she didn't just want to win, but she needed to win. And that made her ruthless.

Taylor and Skills were both completely relaxed in the other's presence. They were good friends which made them into good competitors. They knew everything about each other. The last month they had spent in Mexico, they seemed to have developed a bond which helped them do well in the challenges.

Many teams were left in the game. Many teams left to beat. Nathan suddenly realized that if he and Haley wanted to make it till the end, they needed to up their game. No more 4th or 5th place or doing medium well.

They needed to start winning challenges. They needed to share that same trust and bond that Taylor and Skills had in order to gain the trust between one another that would help them get to that next level in challenges.

"Party it is." Nathan mumbled to himself while continuing lifting weights with a determined look.

Tonight, in order to make them into a better team, he would find out everything about Haley. And that included finding out exactly what was going on with her and Taylor and what they were hiding.

* * *

AN: So, any thoughts on the chapter? **What do you think is going on with out favorite sisters?**

Next chapter: _Duh-_rama! Big fights, big speeches and big revelations. :) Don't forget to review!

xoxo

Fes


	10. Chapter 9: When It All,It All Falls Down

AN: Wow, a month since last update. Bad Fes, bad Fes! But during that month I did finish my final thesis (60 pages total) and graduated from college with a BBA degree. :) Hence, the lack of updates for a while. Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter and as always: **please review**. :)

* * *

Quote of the day: Dwight (The Office)

(talking about his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend): "Andy and Angela seem very happy. I hope nothing horrible ever happens to them."

* * *

**Chapter 9. "Oh When It All, It All Falls Down."**

Week 4.

"_If you ain't dirty, YOU AIN'T HERE TO PARTY!_"

Haley chuckled out loud when she exited her bedroom and heard the loud music from downstairs. It was almost 8 pm and the party was full on. The others had started drinking and having fun about an hour earlier but Haley had felt tired so she had decided to take a nap.

She looked at the downstairs area curiously while descending the stairs. The living room type hang out area with the comfy couches and the huge speakers had been turned into a club with the strobo lights, the deep base music and the disco ball that was now hanging from the beautiful, expensive, antique chandelior.

"Only in MTV…" Haley mumbled to herself while looking at the beautiful chandelier that had to be worth a fortune.

"Yoooooo, Haleeeees!"

Haley turned to look at the drunk, shirtless Tim who was holding a salt shaker, a slice of lemon and a tequila bottle.

"What's up, Tim?" Haley said with a genuine smile not really minding Tim's drunken behavior.

She had always liked Tim. He was sincere, nice, funny and easy to read. Sure, he had his goofy, guy-ish moments but truth to be told, who didn't? _Especially in this environment, in this house_, Haley thought. She also appreciated the fact that he almost never lied, most likely because he couldn't, and he also seemed to be loyal to his team mate, Bevin.

Honesty and loyalty wasn't easy to find in a person, especially if you were competing for 200 000 dollars but Tim seemed to hold both of those qualities.

"Just partying it up, sistah!" he said. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Taking a nap but I'm here now, ready to party." Haley said smiling.

"Awesome!" he said his eyes lighting up. He suddenly held up the stuff he was holding. "Body shot?"

"No." Haley said with a smile and patted him in the back while walking past him to the kitchen.

"Well, if you change your mind, I'm here. The whole night. You know, whenever is fine!" he yelled after her.

"I'll keep that in mind. Are the others in the kitchen?" she asked.

"Yeah, Nathan was looking for you a while ago." he said.

Haley looked at him thoughtfully while continuing her way towards the kitchen. What could Nathan possible want from her?

"Hey, people."

"HALEY!" Rachel yelled and jumped to give the wide-eyed girl a big hug.

"Whoa! Yeah, umh. Hey, Rach-whore, I mean Rachel." Haley said accidentally using Brooke's nice nickname for Taylor. When she realized that Rachel didn't even notice it, Haley patted the drunk girl in the back.

"I'm _so_ glad you're here." Rachel slurred while poking Haley on the cheek.

Haley looked over Rachel's shoulder trying to find help, from anyone really. Her eyes met with Nathan's who was leaning on the kitchen counter while chatting with Taylor and Lucas. With a smirk, Nathan nodded his head and walked towards the two girls.

"Hey, Rachel. Do you mind if I steal my partner for a second? Thank you…" he said politely and started to push Haley towards the back door that led to the patio before Rachel had time to even answer.

"Yeah, of course not…" Rachel said but the two were already outside.

Rachel shrugged her shoulders and turned to find her next hugging victim.

"TIM!"

Nathan and Haley peeked inside the kitchen and they both let out sighs of relief when they saw Rachel running towards Tim.

"Wow, thanks." Haley said still shaking her head in disbelief. "How much has she drunk?"

"Don't know, don't care." Nathan said as they sat down on the sun chairs that were by the pool.

They both stared at the calm, cool pool for a while in a comfortable silence.

"So, anything new with you?" Nathan asked trying to make small talk and get Haley to tell him what was going on.

"Not much, the same. I'm glad we didn't do so badly at the challenge." Haley said.

"Mm hmm." Nathan nodded his head in agreement. "So, what's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?" she asked as coolly as possible even though she was completely thrown off.

"You and Taylor earlier with the whispers and everything." he said. "And not just today, this whole time here. I'm not stupid, you know. If something's going on-"

"Nothing's going on."

"-then I need to know." Nathan continued ignoring Haley's comment.

Nathan stared at Haley for a second while she was playing with the hands, suddenly finding them extremely interesting. She took a deep breath and turned to look at Nathan.

"Nothing's going on." she said again.

"Okay." Nathan said and stayed silent for a minute his patience starting to run low. _What does she think I am, a retard?_

"But if something is-" Nathan started with an annoyed voice but didn't get far.

"Stop it!" Haley snapped but then softened up. "Sorry, didn't mean to sound bitchy. I guess I'm still a bit sleepy or something. But to answer your question: no, there's nothing going that could influence our game. Don't worry, partner."

"Ok…" he said first annoyed but then feeling guilty. What if nothing was going on? He had just jumped to conclusions and almost yelled at her.

Haley sighed and got up. "I'm gonna find Tay. Talk to you later."

"Just like old times…" Nathan muttered, as Haley went back inside.

Though she had denied it, he was almost positive that something was going on and he was now even more determined to know what was going on. He went inside and started to look for Haley feeling the need to know everything even stronger than before.

Nathan didn't know why he was being like that, so nosy and pushy. There was just something about her that made him want to know everything. He kept telling himself that it was only for the game, only so that they could become closer and better for the game.

Haley stormed inside and straight out of the kitchen. She was intending to go to her room, lock the door and avoid Nathan for the rest of the time or at least till the next Challenge. She was about to walk upstairs when Brooke came out of the den, holding a phone.

"Hey, Haley. It's for you." Brooke said studying Haley carefully.

"What?" she asked confused.

"Some Matt guy."

Haley opened her mouth in shock and stared at Brooke, suddenly going pale.

"Come again?" Haley asked quietly.

"Phone call from Matt."

Haley reached her hand and took the phone from her slowly. She stared at Brooke for a second, gave her a tight smile and started to walk upstairs with shaky steps. As soon as she got to her room, she slammed the door shut and took in a deep breath.

"Hey, Matt." she said with a shaky, quiet voice not knowing what to expect from the call.

Brooke was still staring at the staircase confused. The discussion she had had earlier was now proving to be a fact. There was something definitely going with the James sisters.

Brooke walked to the dining room where the rest of the group was sitting and drinking. She sat down next to Taylor who was flirting heavily with Lucas. At the same time, a frustrated Nathan came inside.

"Where's Haley?" Nathan asked with a rude voice not even bothering to be polite.

"Huh?" Taylor asked.

"Where's Haley?" Nathan asked impatiently.

"I don't kno-"

"She's upstairs." Brooke said and turned to look at Taylor.

Taylor saw the weird look on Brooke's face and gave her a confused look when Brooke didn't say anything but merely stared.

"What?" Taylor asked confused.

"Who's Matt?" Brooke asked staring at Taylor carefully who was taking a sip from her whine.

Immediately after hearing the name, Taylor choked a bit on her wine and started coughing.

"Excuse me?!" Taylor asked her eyes watering from the lack of air.

"Who's Matt?"

"How… I mean… Wait, _what_?!" Taylor snapped, now completely covered from the coughing.

"There was a phone call for Haley from some Matt. She's now talking with him." Brooke articulated slowly with a hint of sarcasm. She was slowly but surely starting to lose her patience.

Taylor stared at Brooke with a shocked expression, trying to understand everything she was saying.

"Oh my god." Taylor whispered while jumping up from her chair and sprinting towards the staircase.

"Nuh-huh, this ends tonight." Brooke mumbled as she followed Taylor, Nathan and Peyton right behind her.

"What the hell just happened?" Skills asked confused from the others that were still in the room. They all shrugged their shoulders confused and went back to their drinking, not really even caring what was going on.

Taylor ran the stairs as fast as possible until she got to the bedroom door.

"Hang up the phone, Haley! NOW!" she yelled as she stormed inside the room.

Haley, who was sitting on the bed, wiped away a few tears from her eyes and looked up abruptly when the whole gang stormed in her bedroom.

Taylor snatched the phone from Haley's hand with force. She lifted the phone against her ear and was about to start yelling when she noticed Peyton, Brooke and Nathan staring at her. Instead, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"Do not call again, Matty." she whispered and hung up the phone.

The room was silent.

Peyton and Brooke were staring at Taylor who had thrown the phone on the bed and crossed her arms over her chest. Taylor was staring at them both, daring them to say anything. Nathan was staring at Haley who was sitting on her bed trying to hide behind Taylor. She was looking at her feet like they were the most interesting things in the world. Her eyes were red and Nathan had seen her wipe a few tears when they had entered the room.

The silence was broken by a small sniff from Haley and everyone turned to look at her.

"Can we get some privacy?" Taylor asked with a strained voice.

"The hell you will!" Brooke yelled. "What the hell is going on?"

"Nothing that concerns you. Now, leave." Taylor said with a quiet but rude voice and then added with a sugary sweet, borderline sarcastic voice. "_Please?_"

"We're your friends! We care about you!" Brooke said in a hurt voice.

Brooke couldn't understand why the sisters didn't trust her or Peyton. She knew that they had only known each other a month but to her it felt so much more. They had spent every minute together talking, laughing and gossiping. She had told them personal stuff about her life and now when they refused to do the same, she was felt hurt.

"We wanna help you. Obviously, something's wrong. Please, let us help you." Peyton said with a softer voice.

"There's nothing you can do." Haley said with a dead voice that snapped Nathan out of his staring.

"We can try." he said not taking his eyes off of hers.

"You can help by leaving us alone and giving us our privacy." Taylor said.

When no one made a move, Taylor grabbed Haley by her arm.

"Fine, we're leaving." she said and left the room with Haley.

"Wait, Haley!" Nathan said.

Haley stopped to look at him for a second. She shook her head sadly as if telling him to let it go, and followed her sister. When they were outside the house finally away from the others, Taylor turned to look at Haley with a desperate look.

"How could you do that?! You should've known better!" she yelled with a heartbreaking voice not even caring that there was a camera man and a sound guy right next to them.

"I'm sorry!" Haley said holding back the tears that were threatening to fall.

"You might've compromised everything we've worked for! You know what's at stake here!" she yelled with a sad voice.

"I know!" Haley said apologetically. "But it's Matt!"

"Exactly! It's _Matt_! You should've never taken his call, Haley. Never! We talked about this!"

"How could I _not_ take his call? You know how things ended between us. I'm glad they, especially him, are even willing to talk to us. To _me_!"

"They don't understand." Taylor said. "I mean, I know the whole thing is ridiculous but it's not like they came up with anything better."

"I know." Haley said.

Taylor took a deep breath and hugged Haley who swallowed nervously and took a step back. Taylor saw the look on her sister's face. It was dead serious and she didn't have an inch of color on her face.

"What is it?"

"Umh, there's something that…" Haley started with a shaky breath. "I'm so sorry, Taylor. There's something that… something that Matt said that might… It might become a problem." she finished with an ashamed look.

"What problem?" she asked confused.

"I'm so sorry, Tay. I screwed up everything."

Taylor looked at her confused but then a second later she continued with a serious voice and a paler face. "_The_ problem?"

Haley nodded her head slowly.

"Haley! How could you be so stupid?!" Taylor yelled and sat down on the ground with a thud.

Haley sat down next to her. Taylor leaned her head against Haley's shoulder.

"What are we gonna do?" Haley whispered.

"We can either deny everything. Pretend that nothing happened." Taylor said and then laughed bitterly. "Which is gonna be pretty difficult since we're talking about it here right now." she said acknowledging the camera man and the sound guy in front of them.

"We could come clean." Haley said and Taylor let out a laugh. "No, I'm serious."

"What?"

"We should come clean. On our own terms." Haley said suddenly feeling better.

"You're insane." Taylor said.

"No, just think about it." Haley said. "They're gonna find out anyways. This way we control how it's presented. They'll hear our side of the story. And who knows, maybe we won't be kicked out of the show."

"I don't know..." Taylor said.

"Do we really have a choice? By now the producers know everything. We need to do damage control."

"Ok but I can't be there. I can't handle it." Taylor said. "You need to tell them on your own."

"Fine." Haley said actually relieved that she wouldn't have to keep any secrets. Also, she knew how Taylor felt about the secret. The less people talked about it, the easier for Taylor.

They sat there for few minutes in silence, both wondering if it would be their last night in Mexico.

They saw three people walking their way, Molly; the young woman who was an assistant to someone who they had met on their first day in Mexico and also Rob and Elliott; MTV producers who pretty much ran the entire show.

"Haley, may we have a word?" Rob asked as Elliott looked dead serious.

"We've been expecting you." Taylor said and looked at Haley with a small smile. "Go get 'em, Haley-bub." she said using the nickname their family had for Haley.

Haley stood slowly, ruffled Taylor's hair with a smile and a wink and started walking towards the trio.

"Can we go somewhere private?" Haley asked.

"You know we can't-" Molly started and looked at the camera man, thinking that Haley didn't want any cameras around.

"No, I know they will be around. I just meant somewhere away from the house." she said.

"Of course." Rob said with a sympathetic voice. "How about we go to the crew facilities?"

"Sounds good." Haley said and they started their way to the small house that was near the house where Haley had lived the last month.

Once they got there, they went to sit in the back yard, where there was a picnic table and benches. A nervous Haley sat on the one end while the two producers sat opposite of her.

Molly, who was standing, looked at Haley sympathetically.

"Can I get you anything? Food? Something to drink?"

"Could I get some tea, please?" Haley asked.

"Coming up." she said with a smile and went back in the kitchen.

Haley was now alone with Rob and Elliott, the producers. She sat in silence, thinking of how to start her speech. A few minutes later, Molly came back with her tea.

"So, you probably heard the phone call." Haley stated twirling the hot cup of tea on her hands.

Both the men nodded their heads.

"Haley… If what we heard is true, we need to have a very serious conversation. You and your sister lied to us. We need to know exactly what's going on." Rob said seriously.

"So, why don't you tell us everything. In your words, in your way. We won't interrupt you." Elliott said with a kind smile.

Haley took a small sip of the hot tea and took a deep breath.

"I'm sick."

Even though they already knew it because they had heard Matt mention it on the phone, both men and Molly gasped in shock.

"I have cancer. _Had_ cancer. Well, I mean I guess you can never really know for sure it won't return. It's called Non-Hodgins Lymphoma. I was diagnosed when I was 13 and since that I've been doing mostly radiation therapy and some chemo. It was diagnosed aggressive but curable. I _am_ cured. I've finished all therapy and I'm now in remission. The cancer is gone – for now – but my family and I are stuck with hospital bills of almost $100'000 which we don't have. And not to even mention that there's no guarantee it won't come back." she said and took a deep breath.

The entire speech she had spoken with a polite, professional voice as if she was talking about some fictional character instead of herself. It was obvious she had had that speech too many times in her life.

"Look." Haley said in a softer, more personal voice. "I don't need any special treatment, trust me I've had enough treatment for a lifetime but like I said, the cancer is gone. I'm not dying or anything. The reason why Taylor and I applied for this show is to win the money so we can pay off the hospital debt. I know it's a long shot and the odds of that happening are slim to none but at least it's a chance, no matter how small it is. Please, let us stay in the show."

"Why weren't you honest from the beginning? I mean, we had a similar situation with the Fresh Meat season in 2005 and everything went fine." Rob said.

"I never really watched the show to tell you the truth, it was more Taylor's thing but the reason we never talked about it was because we were afraid you wouldn't let us on the show for medical reasons. Above all, it was because I wasn't ready for the whole country to know something that personal about me. I didn't wanna become some charity case for people to pity on."

"I understand but I still hope you would've been honest." Elliott said with a sigh and turned to look at Rob who just nodded his head.

"Well, this doesn't mean that you or your sister are out of the show." Rob said and smiled when Haley let out a sigh of relief and gave a huge, happy grin. "But we will have to talk to your doctor to find out every little detail. If he says you're fit to continue, we have no reason to disagree with that."

"Yes, of course. It should be fine, he's aware that I'm here now. I'll give you his contact information." Haley said happily.

"You do realize that all of this will air? Everyone will know about your condition." Elliott said.

"Yeah, I figured as much." Haley said sighing. "I'll learn to deal with it by then."

"Is there anything you need?" Rob asked.

"No, I'm fine. I've been living with this for the last 8 years. But I promise I will let you know if anything comes up."

"Good. Are you gonna tell the other people? Nathan?" Molly asked quietly. Nathan and Haley had been her favorite team since the beginning.

"I don't know, they're all freaking out 'cause they don't know what's going on. Tay and I were supposed to lay low and not act weird but that obviously didn't work. I don't know if I'm ready to tell anyone anything yet. I'll have to think about it." Haley said.

"Sounds good." Elliott said and they all stood up.

"Thanks for listening and understanding." Haley said shaking the men's hands.

"Thank you for being honest. We'll be in touch with you after we've talked with your oncologist." Elliott said.

"Thank you." Haley said and wrote down the information they needed to contact her doctor.

Haley waved goodbye to everyone and started to walk back towards the house. She had mixed feelings about everything that was happening. She was incredibly glad that she didn't have to lie to MTV anymore but she also knew the situation back at the house.

Haley was mad at herself for letting her issues become so big in the house. Nathan, Brooke and Peyton were all part furious, part concerned and part confused about everything that was happening. They must've been thinking that that Matt guy was her abusive ex or something.

_Matt_. Haley scoffed out loud while thinking his name. Matt was her oldest brother, the most out-spoken in the family, the one who hated anything mainstream and all reality TV. He was the one who was more against Haley and Taylor participating in a reality show than any other member in their family and he was also the one who had gotten the whole family against Haley and Taylor.

After Matt had convinced the entire family that the MTV reality show would damage Haley's future and possible even cause psychological trauma, he had also argued that the girls couldn't live a normal life after the show aired and that Haley becoming the pity case for the entire country because of her past cancer, would screw up her changes for a normal, stable future. Not to even mention the possibility that the sisters might be portrayed badly by the editors of the show.

Matt, though he despised reality TV, knew what kind of people took part in those shows and he didn't want her sisters to have to live with that kind of reputation.

Matt happened to also be a lawyer which meant that he was very much capable of making long, impressive, manipulative speeches. He had managed to get the entire family against the idea of the girls taking part of the show and when Taylor and Haley had stuck by their decision, their parents and all of their siblings had exploded.

Their parents had cried, their sisters had begged them not to do it, the twins Chris and Brian had gotten angry and Matt had just decided to take the quiet stand. Haley and Taylor had stuck with their decision even though it had gotten to the point where they hadn't talked with Matt for over two months. That was until now. Haley had almost given into her family's demands but Taylor's decisiveness and will to help her sister had changed Haley's mind.

Family was the most important thing in Haley's life so when everyone had been mad at her, against her and practically not talking to her, Haley had been miserable. Her family's inability to support her and Taylor's decision had affected her so much that she had also started to doubt the decision to try to win the money through a reality show. That's why she had been so much against the show the first few weeks they were there.

And now Peyton was worried, Brooke was angry and Nathan was confused. Her and Taylor's decision to "lay low" and not talk about the cancer had backfired badly. She had no idea what the others were thinking and what they thought was going on.

Haley gave an angry huff while continuing towards the cast house. All of this drama, trouble and heartache because of a stupid tumor she didn't even have anymore. So, she had had cancer. Past tense. No cancer no more. She was fine and healthy. Sure, a bit skinny and anaemic but other than that fine. _Except for the fact that I owe a hundred grand for the stupid treatments because of the stupid cancer_, Haley thought annoyed.

Haley could still remember the day she found out about her cancer. She had felt sick and weak for months but thought it was just part of growing up and hormons and everything teenage girls went through when they started to grow up.

Her parents had taken her to a doctor and then a few weeks later, the day before her 13th birthday, she had gotten the call. Non-Hodgins Lymphoma. Aggressive. Radiation therapy. All before she had even had her first kiss.

Her entire teen life had gone by in different hospitals, in different rehabilitation centers, with shrinks, crisis workers, et cetera, et cetera. The first year she had wallowed in self pity. Why her? What had she done wrong? How could the world be so cruel to her?

Then one day she had gotten a new roommate at the children's hospital, an 8-year-old girl, Linda, with aggressive brain cancer. Linda told she had 10-12 months left to live. The girl died a year later, right after her 9th birthday.

That had opened Haley's eyes. Though she had cancer, they had found it early enough so it hadn't spread. The radiation therapy was tough and she had lost hair and lot of weight but she was never in fear of dying, she had always had good odds of surviving. She was getting healthy again. Haley realized how good her life actually was and how bad it could've been.

After that she never pitied herself again but what she wasn't prepared for was everyone else's pity.

As soon as anyone heard the word cancer from Haley's mouth, they all reacted the same. Huge eyes, a small gasp of horror, mouth open a bit in shock, a quiet whisper of "oh no" or "oh my god" or the one that Haley hated the most: "you poor thing".

When Haley tried to explain that she was not dying and that her life wasn't that bad, they all gave sympathetic smiles and pats on her shoulders thinking that she was trying to deny her sickness and be strong. Haley hated that pitiful look on everyone's face. In fact she hated it so much that she had refused to speak about her cancer to anyone. In her mind, it wasn't even an issue anymore. It had been years since she conquered it. Now, if she only got rid of the bills, she could finally forget that she was ever sick.

The only person who didn't treat her like a fragile piece of glass was Taylor. Sure, she had been devastated in the beginning but it was like she saw the change in Haley and understood that being pitied was the worst thing that could happen for her. Taylor was the only person who Haley was absolutely comfortable with.

Taylor made Haley feel like a normal person mostly because she didn't pity her but also because she refused to talk about the cancer. For Taylor, if she didn't talk about it, it didn't exist and Haley was more than fine with not talking about it. It wasn't as if she liked to be reminded about it either.

Haley took a deep breath as she opened the front door of the MTV house. Should she tell the others about her cancer or just keep her mouth shut? It would be easier if everyone knew and she wouldn't have to lie anymore.

She opened the door and froze when she saw the waiting group of people staring at her. Peyton and Brooke looked half angry, half confused. Taylor was looking at her as if trying to silently ask if they could stay in the show. The last person Haley looked was Nathan.

He was sitting on the stairs, leaning his arms on his legs, staring at Haley with face of mixed emotions. Haley could identify sadness, confusion and worry in his features but there was something in his eyes that was different, something different but very familiar to Haley. Haley closed her eyes mortified when she realized what it was.

Pity.

_Oh no. _

Haley took a deep breath, making her decision.

_Nathan can never know._

_

* * *

_

* * *

AN: So, any thoughts on the chappie? MANY of you guessed what was wrong with Haley on your reviews (I think one of you even figured it out like 5 chapters ago) :) So yeah, it was pretty predictable huh. :) And yes, I also know it's a total rip-off of the Fresh Meat season where Diem had cancer and didn't tell anyone. The reason I even decided to have Haley go through the same was 'cause Diem was my favorite that season and the friendship she had with Derrick was just so beautiful.

Besides, all stories need some drama to keep the storyline interesting. But don't worry, I won't make Haley's past cancer the main thing, it's just something that gives her character and Taylor a bit more debth and makes the reader understand that they are not just in the game to get famous.

On another note, I have no experience with cancer personally and have no idea how long remission is or how long a patient even has time to pay off the bills so try to bear even if you know that something I wrote is incorrect. ANYHOO, please review as always. :)

And let me know your opinion: **Do you think Haley will tell Nathan? If so, when and how should she do it?**

xoxo

Fes


	11. Chapter 10: The C Word

AN: Wow, three months since last update. I have no excuses just wanna say SORRYSORRYSORRY! Been a bit sad lately and had a bit of a stress finding a job after graduation and with this economical crisis. No worries though, nothing major going on, just feeling a bit down with fall coming and I've been sick a couple of times. But it's my birthday on Friday which makes me happyhappyhappy. :) Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing and having patience. This chappie is a short one, but at least it's moving to the right direction with our beloved Naley. :)

Special thanks to ReeseHolden for encouraging me to continue with this. Thank you. :)

* * *

Quote of the day: Eurotrip

Scotty (freaking out and revealing embarrassing secrets): "I saw a gay porno once. I didn't know until half way in. The girls never came. THE GIRLS NEVER CAME!!"

* * *

**Chapter 10. "The C-Word."**

Week 5.

_Cancer._

_It's funny how one little word can define your entire existence._

_It's been 7 years, 11 months and 12 days since I found out that I'm sick. __Was__ sick. I guess you never get entirely healthy because of the high risk of cancer renewing. But as far as I'm concerned, I'm healthy. Sure, still anaemic and all but healthy. _

_It has been totally chaotic here. It all went down last week when some of the others confronted me and Taylor about our actions. I guess our plan to "lay low" with the whole cancer thing didn't quite happen._

_Ever since Brooke, Peyton and Nathan demanded to know what's going on and we refused to tell, it has been weird for me and Taylor, to say the least. Brooke isn't talking to us, Nathan is avoiding us, Peyton is acting like nothing happened and the rest are just confused. Taylor and I have been hanging out with Skills and Lucas who seem to be the only people who honestly do not care._

_I don't know what to do. We have a challenge in few days and if Nathan and I are still not talking, I don't even want to imagine how badly we'll do. Should I tell him? Maybe, I don't know. He might totally freak out and it could ruin our teamwork. Or it might just strengthen us and maybe even make us into a better team. _

_I don't know! I need like a sign or something._

_

* * *

__What did I do last week? Some competing, hanging out, drinking, partying, oh and I found out my partner who's supposed to have my back through thick and thin and who I'm supposed to win this stupid competition with, doesn't trust me. So yeah, this week sucked and I cannot wait for it to be over._

_We all know that there's something major going on with Haley and Taylor. I wouldn't care if it weren't for the fact that Haley's my partner and we kinda need to stick together and be a team to be able to stay until the end and win the money. And I really did think we were starting to grow as a team but obviously I was wrong. _

_Whatever. It's not like she matters. My initial instinct of not liking her was obviously a correct one so I really don't feel like hanging out with her other than at challenges. _

_

* * *

_"Ok, this is starting to get ridiculous." Haley muttered.

Haley was sitting by the pool next to her sister, looking around uncomfortably after Brooke gave her yet another mean glare.

It was the beginning of their fifth week in Mexico but to Haley it seemed like it had been five months. Two days ago Anna and Jake had lost the Elimination against Peyton and Mouth, who had won in the last minute thanks to Mouth's memory skills which meant that Anna and Jake were out of the game.

They had been celebrating the final six teams but Brooke was making it hard for Taylor and Haley, shunning them from her group. Taylor had already given up on trying to please her and instead had put all of her energy on something more important and much more fun for her, flirting with Lucas.

This put Haley in an awkward position considering Lucas was pretty much the only one who was talking to her. Brooke was mad at her, Nathan was avoiding her, Skills was usually playing ball with Tim and Chase, Peyton was hanging out with Mouth, and Rachel and Bevin were together as always. Which only left Lucas, who was currently getting a back massage, courtesy of sister dearest.

Haley looked around uncomfortably when Lucas moaned and told Taylor how talented she was. Haley quickly turned her iPod on wanting to escape the voices of her friend and sister. She cursed when the iPod battery died.

Haley got up, gave one disgusted look at Taylor's direction when she, in the midst of giving Lucas a massage, leaned down and sniffed his hair quickly.

Haley opened the back door to the kitchen and headed to the den. She opened the door and froze when she saw Nathan on the computer, slowly turning to stare at her. His face wasn't mean or glaring but it wasn't happy or friendly either.

"Sup." he mumbled and turned his attention back to the computer again.

"Hey." she piped, gripping her iPod even harder.

Taking a deep breath, she walked to the computer and started to look for the cord to charge her iPod. She saw the white cord leave the side of the computer that was on the floor and disappear somewhere under the desk where all the other computer and phone cords were. Haley cursed when she realized that it was basically somewhere between Nathan's feet.

"Hey, umh, I need to charge this." Haley said.

"Ok." Nathan stated not taking his eyes off of the screen or moving an inch.

"And the cord is somewhere there." Haley said pointing at the floor under the table.

"Ok."

Haley huffed when he still didn't move or show any interest in helping her.

"Fine, don't move!" Haley snapped and then muttered under her breath. "You ass."

Haley took two determined steps and went on all fours on the floor, pushing Nathan's legs out of her way in a completely non-aggressive, non-hostile manner. She fished the white cord somewhere under the other ones and tried to undo the knots on it. She sneezed when the dust hit her nose.

Nathan looked down at Haley when she sneezed and decided in that second that it was officially the cutest thing he had ever witnessed. Haley was right under him on all fours, her butt right between his legs. The small pair of surfer shorts she had on looked definitely good on her.

He smirked when he saw her butt moving a bit from side to side in front of him as she tried to fix the iPod cord. With a mischievous grin, he was about to smack her in the butt but Haley spoke first with a bored sigh.

"You touch my ass and I swear to god I'll chop off your fingers so that the only way for you to play ball is with a pinkie and a thumb."

Nathan retracted his hand and wiggled his pinkie and thumb, trying to decide if it was worth it or even possible. He shrugged his shoulders and was about to slap her butt anyways but she quickly got up, holding the white cord with a victorious look on her face.

"Ha!" she yelled in triumph and plugged her iPod, setting it on the table.

"Highest achievement for this week, I presume." Nathan snorted and added sarcastically. "If only you were this skilled in challenges."

"Oh zip it, I've been doing good and you know it."

"Ha!" he said, mimicking her.

"Whatever." Haley said annoyed and turned on her heels, leaving the room.

Nathan looked after her and turned back to the computer with a sigh. He was about to check his e-mail when the iTunes window popped up and Haley's iPod started to finally charge. He looked at the songs she had selected and started to unclick them and add new ones, the smirk never leaving his face.

* * *

"... so then Doug passed me the ball, and I'm not kidding, I jumped like 10 feet and dunked the ball, right at the buzzer." Tim said, proudly finishing his story.

They were all gathered around the pool as a group, all the girls tanning while the guys were talking about their achievements, basically having a bragging competition.

"Oh man, you should've seen the game Luke and I had when we won state." Nathan stared. "I'm not kidding, it was the best game ever. I scored like 30 points and played almost full 32 minutes." he said proudly.

Haley looked at Nathan quickly, wondering if it was the smartest thing for him to brag about all the things he can do.

"...and we used to go to gym six times a week and we still go running 8-mile-runs five times a week." Nathan said.

"I used to train with two personal trainers before coming here and they're all about gym." Skills said.

"Oh, personal trainers are the best, we had 5 for the college team I used to play for and they were all the best ones in the state."

Haley listened the guys brag more and more, trying to make themselves look better. Nathan definitely had the biggest mouth and she could see Chase and Mouth looking at him with bit of irritation every time he said something.

Haley realized that if Chase and Mouth would be irritated with Nathan, they wouldn't care to leave Haley on the game either. And now when Brooke was barely even talking to her, it wouldn't take much for them to vote her and Nathan, if it would come to that.

Haley tied to signal with her eyes for Nathan to stop but he just looked at her with a scoff and continued even more. And the more he continued, the more Mouth and Chase became uncomfortable. Right after Nathan mentioned how much he could lift, Haley saw Mouth give Chase a knowing look and a sarcastic eye roll.

By then Haley was fuming. She got up quickly and motioned for Nathan to follow her but he merely rolled his eyes and continued his discussion. Haley huffed annoyed and stormed inside the house where some of the cast had gone few minutes ago.

"What was that?" Rachel snarled sitting next to Nathan while looking after Haley.

"Don't know, don't care." Nathan mumbled, wanting to avoid the subject of Haley.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Brooke said. "And I'm stuck living with her for god knows how long."

Nathan whipped his head to glare at the two girls. _How dare they! _Nathan thought angrily. He then furred his brows surprised that he was defending Haley, even if it was only in his head.

"Has anyone noticed that she does this thing that she looks at you like she's so much better than you are?" Rachel said annoyed.

Rachel didn't really even dislike Haley but she was jealous that Haley was partnered up with Nathan. Rachel had seen the change in Nathan and how he was starting to like her as a partner. The more time had gone by, the more Nathan had started to talk about Haley, and not in the hostile, annoyed way he did when they got to Mexico.

"Really? Well she does have that whole I-went-to-Stanford attitude so I'm not surprised." Brooke huffed annoyed.

Nathan looked at the two girls with an annoyed glare, his hands in tight fists.

"And how about when she-"

"How about you both shut up about Haley?!" Nathan snapped when Brooke was about to say something more.

"What's up your ass?" Brooke snapped.

"You two with your little trash talking. Better watch out before it comes back to bite you in the ass." he said and girls gasped at the threat.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rachel snapped as Lucas just shook his head not wanting to interfere on the fight and be forced to choose sides between his brother and his team mate.

"Whatever you want it to mean." Nathan said not caring how bad it sounded.

"What the hell's going on?" Chase asked when he saw the shocked look on Brooke's face.

Nathan rolled his eyes knowing fully well that Chase had a crush on Brooke.

"Nothing, man. Just keep your girl on check so she doesn't go talking shit about mine." Nathan snapped, not even noticing that he had just called Haley his girl.

"Hey, show some respect!" Chase said.

"Oh, whatever." Nathan said not bothering to make amends.

"What's your problem, man?!" Chase said standing up to face him.

Nathan did the same and noticed with a smirk how much smaller Chase was.

"How about you apologize to the girls!" Chase said.

_For dissing Haley? _Nathan thought and then huffed.

"Make me."

"You little-"

"What the hell!"

The guys turned to look at an angry Haley who was storming towards them.

"Nathan! Kitchen! Now!" she said and dragged Nathan by his arm.

"What the hell-" Nathan started when they got inside the kitchen. He was confused why Haley was so mad and not thanking him for defending her.

"Shut up!" Haley snapped, not having any idea why Nathan had been almost fighting with Chase. "What the hell are you doing?! Are you insane?!"

"What?" Nathan asked truly confused. "Look, if this is about your iPod-"

"What? No! It's about- Wait, what did you do to my iPod?"

"Nuthin'." he said innocently.

Haley took a long breath, trying to think of the best way to start.

"Nathan, do you want to win this stupid thing? Get the money?"

When Nathan didn't answer, she crossed her arms.

"Well, do you?"

"Wait, that wasn't a rhetorical question?" Nathan asked. "Of course I wanna win."

"Then keep your mouth shut."

"Wha-"

"Don't tell people how much you can bench press or how fast you can run a mile. Don't tell them all the things you're awesome at. Don't fight with people, don't antagonize people, don't brag, and for god's sakes, keep your opinions to yourself. If someone annoys you, be quiet. Never ever under any circumstances say something because odds are that someone else will say it."

"Whatev-"

"Talk less and listen more. Because the less you say, the less people think of you. And the less people think of you, the less they will think of _us_. And the less they think of us, the less they vote us. And the less they vote us, the less we have to go to Elimination. And the less we have to go to Elimination, the more of a chance we have of winning the 200 000 dollars. Do you see the pattern here?!"

"Jeez, relax. You're spazzing out." Nathan said when Haley finally stopped to take in breath.

"No, I won't relax! Nathan, listen to me. I'm not here for the fame, the TV, the cameras or getting to know new people. I'm here to win this. I'm here because of the money and the money only. I need it and I'm going to get it. But I can't do it alone and as much as this sucks, we need to work together. We need to trust each other."

"I can't believe you're lecturing _me_ about trust." Nathan snarled.

"Look, the whole thing from last week... You need to forget it. It has nothing to do with us or the game." Haley said though she knew it had everything to do with the game and winning it.

"I just..." Nathan started. He didn't exactly want to tell her how much it had hurt him when she hadn't trusted him.

"Nathan, _trust _me on this." she said and continued with a quieter voice. "Leave it be."

Nathan looked at her and the desperate look on her face. He had never seen her look so worried and he could see tears forming under her eye lids.

Whatever Haley's secret was, it was something big and painful and she wasn't ready to talk about it yet. Nathan ran his hand through his hair while looking at her and feeling guilty for making her feel upset again. _God, what's wrong with me?_

"Ok." he said softly.

"Ok, as in...?"

"Ok, as in I'll let it go." he said and felt instantly better when she gave him a relieved smile and jumped up to give him a tight hug.

"You are the best, you now that." she said.

"If only we were best in the challenges." he stated with a smile.

"We'll get there." Haley said while hopping to sit on the kitchen counter.

"You really think so?" Nathan asked taking a chair and turning it around so that he was leaning on the back of it.

"Hell yeah!" she said. "We've been doing better every time. We'll get our win."

"I need to know you're gonna give your all and not give up." Nathan said.

"I promise to do my best." Haley said.

"Likewise."

"Okay, we need to go over our weaknesses and strengths." Haley said getting into full tutor girl mode.

"Like...?"

"For example, I know that my weakness is that athletically I'm…" Haley said trying to search for the right word.

"Useless?" Nathan suggested with a grin.

"I was gonna go with 'challenged' but that's fine too. Thanks, I feel so much better now." Haley said but smiled to let him know she wasn't offended.

"So, I'm good with the physical stuff and you're good with the puzzles, numbers, questions, anything that requires-"

"A brain?" Haley suggested with a grin.

"Hey!" Nathan protested and Haley held her hands up in surrender. "As I was saying, you're good with numbers because I'm-"

"Dumb as a rock?" Haley interrupted.

"I am this close to kicking your bony ass, James." Nathan said holding his thumb and index finger about an inch apart.

"Oh, bring it on. I'm always gonna out-smart you." she said.

"That's it. You're going in the pool." he said standing up from the chair, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder.

"No, no, no, no!" Haley screamed laughing.

"Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes!" he said kicking the kitchen door open and running towards the pool with the screaming Haley on his shoulder.

Brooke, Rachel and the rest of the group who were still outside, stared at the laughing twosome who were now both in the pool, trying to dunk the other while laughing like crazy.

"Those two have worse mood swings than a pregnant teenager." Rachel said while the others just nodded their heads in agreement as they listened to Haley scream when Nathan tickled her.

"Nathan! Stop it..."

"Fine, fine..." he said and pulled her to the side of the pool so she could lean on the edge.

Nathan looked at her for a second, never having felt so connected to her before.

"We are gonna kick some major ass tomorrow." he said referring to the challenge.

"Yep." she said.

They both leaned on the edge on the pool in silence, enjoying the warm sun on their faces and peace between them.

It felt like the water was somehow lighter, warmer and nicer, until they both realized that it was just the weight that had been lifted from their shoulders. They both gave out a small, blissful sigh.

Haley, still keeping her eyes closed while enjoying the warm sun on her face, suddenly furred her brows in confusion.

"Nathan?"

"Mmhmm?"

"What exactly did you do to my iPod?"

* * *

AN: So, that was chapter 10, hope you liked it. This is the first time in three months (since my last update) that I'm on this fanfiction site. I'm kinda missing reading fanfiction but I have too little patience searching for any specific story. :) So, while you leave a review (which you better! :D ) if you happen to have in mind any good, funny, well written story, please post a link. I usually like all the AU stuff, nothing too cheesy and an interesting plot. Humor is important. :) If it's One Tree Hill, it must be Naley. :) I also like Gossip Girl (Blair/Chuck), The Office (Jim/Pam), 24 and Band of Brothers.

So, any good stories in mind that fit the desciption, please let me know. :)

xoxo,

Your Friendly Neighborhood

Fes


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